Past Lives
by wolfie22
Summary: Hermione is thrust into the Marauders' lives during their 7th year. Can she save them while avoiding Voldemort and his Death Eaters?
1. Welcome to Hogwarts

Note: I obviously own nothing and JK Rowling is queen! Be gentle as I do not write often, but I have become crazily obsessed with time turner fics.

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"Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts!"

Albus Dumbledore stood from his chair at the professor's table in the Great Hall. The sorting had just taken place and each table was filled with students welcoming their new members. The students began to quiet down as the Headmaster began his traditional welcome speech.

"First things first" began Dumbledore, "The Forbidden Forest of off limits to all students", he glanced and gave a little smirk to four boys sitting at the Gryffindor table who were returning his glance with smirks of their own. "I would also like to advise that. . ."

Dumbledore never got to finish his speech because the enchanted ceiling above the Gryffindor table began to emit a strange light. It seemed as if space itself was cracking as the light began to grow stronger and the sound of people screaming and yelling curses began to float through the Great Hall. Each of the professors rose from the table and began to move towards the Gryffindor table as the students in red and gold began to move back from the light.

With a bang, the crack closed, the light was gone and a young girl smashed on top of the table. Students began to scream at the sight of the young girl, who looked as if she had been through hell. The girl's clothes were ripped to shreds allowing the wounds and scars on her body to be visible. Her left arm was bleeding profusely; the right seemed to be broken as it lay at an odd angle on the table. Her face was covered in dirt, bruises and blood and her right eye was swollen. She seemed to be dead, and Sirius Black thought she was as he stepped forward to check for a pulse. Remus and James immediately followed behind him as all of the other students tried to get a closer look as well.

"Mr. Black step away!" McGonagall warned as the professors approached the table, but Sirius was already placing his fingers against the girl's neck.

As soon as his fingers touched her skin, the girl's eyes flew open and she placed an arm around Sirius's neck and pointed her wand with her broken arm at the others surrounding her. She seemed to be running on pure adrenaline as she yelled at those around her "Where am I?," she screeched.

Remus and James ran forward to aid their friend, but as Remus got closer she seemed to stiffen and aimed her wand straight at him, "You will not touch me again Greyback!," and Remus was flung into the surrounding group of professors and students. Sirius started to struggle against her, but even in her frail and tortured state, she held tight and pointed her wand at James, but Dumbledore immediately stood in front of him, "Stay away from me!," she yelled as she saw Dumbledore starting towards her.

"Please calm down miss", Dumbledore approached her slowly, "My student has done nothing to you, please let him go." She tightened her hold on Sirius causing Dumbledore to step forward, but the girl did not seem to register who he was or what was happening. She was simply afraid that she would be tortured again if she gave up her leverage of the boy. In her mind she was back in that dungeon with Death Eaters surrounding her as she tried to escape.

Minerva Mcgonagall was very protective of her students and immediately stepped forward next to Dumbledore and began to speak very tentatively, "You need medical attention, please let Mr. Black go and we can take you to the infirmary."

Mcgonagall's voice seemed to break the girl out of her adrenaline induced hysteria. The girl began to sway on her feet and she became pale. She began frantically looking around the room at all of the people and when her eyes fell on Minerva Mcgonagall, tears began to fall down her cheeks. "You're alive," she whispered.

Mcgonagall looked shocked, "Y-yes, I am fine, but you are not, so please release my student and we shall get you the medical care that you require."

The girl seemed to discover what she was doing and dropped her arm, letting Sirius run to his friends behind the professors. Dumbledore seemed to relax, "Thank you miss. . .I'm sorry, but I do not know your name?"

She ignored Dumbledore as if she didn't even hear him and began to walk towards Mcgonagall, but stumbled and fell to her knees. It seemed as though her adrenaline had finally began to wear off and her body began to shake.

"I-I-I don't understand" She whispered, "How-how can you be here? Wh-where are Harry and Ron, I'm supposed to be helping them, Voldemort is coming professor," the entire hall gasped at her use of his name, "We need, we need to kill the snake and it'll be over. I got out, they had me, but I escaped. Bellatrix said she killed you, I never...I don't..."

Mcgonagall reached the girl and went to her knees beside her, "Shh child, you need to calm down, you're very badly injured. We'll get you to the hospital wing and then we can talk alright?"

When Mcgonagall looked down the girl had passed out in her arms. Most of the students had been removed from the hall by this point and Madame Pomfrey had conjured a stretcher for the girl. She was immediately brought to the hospital wing, where she remained unconscious for three days.


	2. What Now?

Author"s note: I own nothing..sadly. This is my first chaptered fic, so please be kind :) Though constructive criticism is always appreciated!

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Remus Lupin sat in, what he and his friends refer to as, _his _bed in the hospital wing. It was the day after the full moon and, as usual, he was being treated by Madame Pomfrey. The strange girl had arrived three days earlier and no one knew anything other than the fact that she was in the hospital wing and had yet to wake up.

"How is she doing today Poppy?" came the voice of his head of house. He watched as Mcgonagall and Pomfrey walked behind the curtain hiding the girl from his view.

"I think she is ready to be woken up today Minerva" Poppy said happily.

Dumbledore walked at that moment, "Excellent, I must admit I am quite curious about how she arrived here and what happened to the poor dear," Remus watched as he too disappeared behind the curtain. He was just as curious as Dumbledore, but he was more concerned with how the girl knew about Greyback.

The door opened with a bang and three young men sauntered towards him carrying loads of chocolate, "Good afternoon Moony!," cried Sirius Black, "I hope you like chocolate."

"Thanks guys, this is the only thing that makes me feel better after a transformation," Remus took a handful of chocolate frogs from Peter as the boys sat around and began chatting.

"Any news on the mystery girl?," Asked Sirius with a glance in her direction. "Dumbledore, McGonagall and Pomfrey are in there now and apparently she's going to wake up today. I heard Pomfrey talking to Dumbledore yesterday and apparently the girl is full of scars that she can't fix because they were made by dark magic" Remus replied.

"Poor girl" muttered James, "I wonder what she went through."

Suddenly a scream echoed through the wing and all four boys looked toward the curtain blocking their view.

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"_C'mere beautiful," Scabior harshly yanked her to her feet and dragged her upstairs where she was met with the Dark Lord and his inner circle of Death Eaters. "Are you ready to tell us what Potter is up to Mudblood, or shall I let Greyback use you as a scratching post again?," he threatened as Greyback walked behind her and dragged a fingernail down her neck._

She began to twitch and moan as Pomfrey gave her the potion that would wake her from her sleep.

"_I'll never tell you anything, you may as well kill me now," she kicked Greyback and struggled out of his hold. "Greyback, Bellatrix, take her and make her talk," she screamed as Greyback bit her shoulder and Bellatrix simultaneously cast the cruciatus curse on her._

"NOOO!", the girl sat up straight in her hospital bed and began heavily panting. She looked around and noticed the three adults staring at her. "There, there, take this potion, it will calm you down and allow you to catch your breath," she took the potion from the healer and swallowed it, immediately feeling better.

"What's going on?" She rasped out at the adults starting down at her. Pomfrey gave her a glass of water while Dumbledore tried to explain what was happening.

"I was hoping we could start with your name dear" he said kindly.

"Oh, It's Hermione, Hermione Granger," she answered.

"Well Ms. Granger, I was hoping you could tell me where it is you came from? We found a most curious object on your person," he pulled out a smashed time turner from the bedside table, "and I was wondering, what year is it for you?"

Hermione looked shocked, "It _was_ 1997, and I had just attempted escape from some Death Eaters who were holding me captive," The adults gasped and McGonagall grasped her hand as Hermione kept talking, "Har.." she stopped from saying names and continued with a generic, "my friends and I were looking for Voldemort's horcruxes," Dumbledore sighed heavily and merely nodded his head, "but we were captured by Snatchers. The boys managed to get away, but I wasn't with them at the time and they couldn't get to me. I was there for a week before I managed to escape. While I was running they were shooting so many spells, I guess one hit the time turner because the next thing I know, I was in the Great Hall with you staring at me."

Dumbledore tried to be calming as he explained her situation, "Well Hermione, I would like to welcome you to 1977, September 4th to be exact. I'm very sorry to inform you that we do not know if you will be able to return to your time soon or at all. You see, by you merely being here and interacting with people from your past, the time that you came from has been drastically altered from what you remember."

Tears rolled down Hermione's face as she slowly nodded her head, "What can I do?." Something seemed to click in Hermione's brain as she suddenly looked up at Dumbledore, "I know the Order has been started by now," he looked back at her a little shocked, but nodded. "Could I join? I know so much information that could help you bring him down now before he has a chance to ruin more lives."

"Ms. Granger, I think right now you are too young to..." McGonagall was cut off as Hermione continued, "I've been fighting Voldemort since I was 11, and professor, I think I was sent here for a reason. I'm going to help you destroy him now so that he doesn't have a chance to kill so many people that I love."

"Well Ms. Granger, I will make a compromise with you," Dumbledore said as he moved closer to her, "I will let you join the Order; however, I would ask that you continue your education here at Hogwarts as well."

Hermione smiled up at him, "Really?," she breathed, "I never got to complete my seventh year, I would love to be allowed to return." Hermione had always hated not continuing her education, but it could not be avoided in her time, now she was getting a second chance.

"Thank you so much professor!," She reached over to hug the old wizard. "Well then, Madame Pomfrey, when do you think your patient will be well enough to journey to the Great Hall and be sorted?" Dumbledore smiled.

"Perhaps tomorrow if you are feeling up to it," Pomfrey responded as she began to fuss over Hermione and change some bandages. "I want you to relax completely for the rest of the day," Hermione just smiled up at her and thanked her.

McGonagall stayed with Hermione when Poppy left to deal with some first years that had a potions accident and Dumbledore went to sort out Hermione's records.

"Ms. Granger," she started, "Please call me Hermione," Hermione interrupted and McGonagall merely nodded and continued.

"Hermione, I was wondering if you could tell me why you responded to me the other day" Hermione smiled as Mcgonagall took her hand again.

"When I was at Hogwarts I was in Gryffindor and a bit of a bookworm" she laughed at the memories, "You kind of took me under your wing and helped me through a lot, especially adjusting to the magical world, I'm a muggleborn you see." Hermione took a deep breath and continued, "In my fifth year, my parents were killed by Voldemort, and having no extended family, I became an orphan. You took me in. I lived with the Weasley's most of the time with my two best friends, but you were, for all intents and purposes, my mom."

Mcgonagall looked shocked, but then grasped Hermione and pulled her into a hug. "Well then" she sniffed as she wiped a tear from her cheek, "don't worry about anything while you're here, because I'm here for you."

The two women sat in the hospital wing for most of the night talking until Poppy finally made Minerva leave so that Hermione could get some rest.


	3. Gryffindor again

Authour's note: Blah blah, I own nothing, blah blah. I'm so excited that I actually have reviews and alerts yay!

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"Come on Lily, you know you want to come to Hogsmeade with me" James Potter whined as he slid closer to Lilly Evans during dinner in the Great Hall.

"Potter, if you do not remove yourself from my person, I will hex you so bad that you won't be able to walk for a week," Lily smirked as James moved down the bench to sit near his friends.

"Mate, when are you going to give up on Evans?" Sirius smacked his friend on the shoulder as the others just laughed.

"She's wearing down, she only _threatened_ to hex me this time," James went back to staring at Lily while the others merely shook their heads.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and raised his hands asking for quiet. "I have an announcement to make before we begin our dinner this evening. As you are all aware, a few days ago a young girl landed here and has been recovering in the hospital wing since. I would ask you all to please respect her privacy and to treat her as you would anyone else. Now, please welcome Ms. Hermione Granger to be sorted!"

The doors to the Great Hall opened and Hermione walked in with McGonagall at her side carrying the sorting hat. She looked around the hall at everyone staring at her and knew exactly how Harry had felt for all those years. Her arm was heavily bandaged, hiding Bellatrix's parting gift of _mudblood_ carved into her arm. It was one of the many scars that could not be healed and the bandage had to be thick because the wound refused to close. She knew that the bandages and scars covering her had everyone in the hall talking and she just wanted to be sorted so she could get to her table and stop sticking out.

Hermione sat on a stool that was placed in front of the head table and McGonagall placed the hat on her head. Once again Hermione got to experience the hat sorting through her head, but only momentarily as it almost immediately shouted "Gryffindor!" through the hall.

Hermione smiled, jumped off of the stool and walked to the end of the Gryffindor table where there were open seats. She knew that she would be here for a while, if not the rest of her life, but she was still a little shaky around people. She tried to smile and introduce herself to those around her, but she couldn't ignore the stare of the four boys on the other end of the table. The Marauders, she was going to school with the Marauders. _How am I going to face them? How can I face Peter without wanting to strangle him? _Hermione continued thinking about her situation and came to the realization that she could save them. _I can give Harry the family he deserves and defeat Voldemort so he doesn't have to worry. He can have a normal life. _

Hermione was too caught up in her own thoughts of how she was going to face the Marauders, that she did not notice the red head approaching her, "Welcome to Hogwarts, Hermione. I'm the Head Girl, Lily Evans," Hermione jumped in her seat and her hand immediately went to her wand, but upon noticing the bright green eyes of the girl she took a deep breath and calmed down. Lily stuck out her hand for Hermione to shake. "I was wondering if you'd like me to show you where the Gryffindor common room is?"

"Oh, umm yes that'd be lovely thank you," she suddenly realized how hard it was going to be to act like she had never been here before. She got up from the bench and began to walk out of the Great Hall with Lily, when she noticed the four boys she was just thinking about. "Wait a moment please Lily" Hermione said as she walked toward Remus and tapped him on the shoulder, "Excuse me, but I just wanted to apologize for what happened the other day. I wasn't exactly in my right mind and I was told you were injured."

Remus looked up shocked, "Oh, it's fine!" he tried to reassure her, "It was nothing really, Madame Pomfrey fixed me in a minute. I'm Remus Lupin by the way, welcome to Gryffindor." He shook her hand and smiled at her as Sirius interrupted them. "Where's my apology?" he laughed, "I'm the one you nearly choked."

Hermione looked horrified, "I-i'm so sorry, I really didn't. . ."

"Don't take him seriously Hermione," James interrupted "he's just trying to be the center of attention; you didn't do anything to him."

"Not true Prongsy, I was traumatized. I think she'll have to come to Hogsmeade with me and make it up to me." Sirius winked at her and grabbed her hand, placing a kiss on the back of it, "Sirius Black, milady. At your service."

Tears began to well in Hermione's eyes at the sight of the carefree young men in front of her. So different from the ones in her time, _and I will make sure they do not end up like that again._ All of these men would be dead, imprisoned or alone so soon and she would not allow it to happen again. She wiped her eyes quickly and laughed at Sirius's over exaggerated bow, which James stepped in front of and took her hand again, "James Potter, nice to meet you. May I ask where you lovely ladies are headed this evening?"

Lily gave an exhausted sigh, "Back off Potter, I'm taking her to the common room to show her around." Lily took Hermione's hand and continued on out of the hall. Hermione turned and gave a wave to the boys as James cried out, "We'll join you soon my Lilyflower!" Remus hauled James back onto the bench.

"She never answered." Sirius looked shocked, "I asked her to Hogsmeade and she just ignored it completely."

"She doesn't know anyone mate," Remus reassured, "she probably doesn't even know what Hogmeade is. Give her a chance to settle in before you try to bed her, yeah?"

"She'll fall for me eventually," Sirius stood up from the table, "Let's go boys, we have some girls to see." Remus, James and Sirius rose from the table and looked to Peter to follow them out.

"You guys go on ahead, I need to go see professor Slughorn about getting into NEWT potions," Peter stood and left in a different direction than the other boys.

Peter had remained strangely quiet throughout the entire meal and seemed to be distant from his friends recently. His friends were not aware that Peter had changed over the summer, and that he was now an avid supporter of Lord Voldemort. He finally got recognition as a Death Eater and now he had a new project. Since the strange girl had been sorted into Gryffindor, he knew the Dark Lord would want him to spy on her closely.

Voldemort had become interested in her after tales of her entry into Hogwarts had reached his ears, and now, he wanted to know everything.


	4. Grow up, Potter

Author's note: I do not own a darn thing *tear* On a happier note, I'm super grateful for all the alerts/favourites and of course, reviews! Thank you all so much and I hope you like this chapter!

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Hermione had gone through the tours and introductions and was now so tired that she wanted nothing more than to sleep. She went up to the girls dorms and closed the hangings around her bed, so that she could get some privacy.

Dumbledore had provided her with her schoolbooks and some basic robes and clothing. He had suggested that she and Lily go to Diagon Alley sometime soon so that she could buy her own clothing and anything else she may need. Hermione was very reluctant to accept the money, but he had convinced her that Hogwarts had enough to spare and kept a fund aside for students in need. Plus, the knowledge that she possessed to defeat Voldemort was payment enough.

She removed the glamour charms from her body and sat on her bed inspecting her arm which had the souvenir from Bellatrix carved into it. Hermione was always strong and never wanted her emotions to get the better of her, but this time it was too much to take. Finally away from others, Hermione broke down.

She cried for her scars, her horrible memories and most importantly, for her friends who she so plainly remembered, but that do not exist now. She had nothing but her memories to remember them by, in fact, she had nothing at all but her wand. Hermione lay in bed, holding her arm and cried herself to sleep.

This behaviour went on for her first few weeks of Hogwarts. Hermione would sit with others and attempt to engage in conversation, but she could never truly let go and act how she normally would with Harry or Ron. She stuck with Lily, which meant she avoided the Marauders as much as she could and spent lots of time in the library, which was the one place where she truly felt at home.

She was in the common room, writing an essay with Lily when the Marauders burst in through the portrait hole, "Quidditch tryouts tomorrow lions!" James Potter yelled, "I hope you've all been practicing, because we do not let just anyone on our team."

"Potter! Don't make me dock points from my own house!" Lily stood and walked towards the boys who were now sitting near the fire and having an argument about chasers and beaters. "People are trying to do work, so if you want to act like a wild animal, take it outside." The boys began to laugh, "Don't worry Evans, we would never be animals inside" Sirius laughed, but Remus gave him a warning look.

"Sorry Lily, I'll try to keep them quiet" Remus said, but Sirius continued to shout over him, "Hey Granger!" Hermione looked up from her work and stared at the scene in confusion, "How about a double date? Me and you with James and Evans. Hogsmeade is coming up and you ignored my last invitation."

Hermione just looked shocked; her best friends godfather was asking her out. This was getting weird. She couldn't deny that he was attractive, but it was still very strange.

"Oh that's a good way to ask someone out, yell it across the common room; very gentlemanly." Hermione laughed and shook her head at Sirius who looked genuinely shocked about being rejected, again.

Remus hauled Sirius down onto the couch after he stood to shout his proposal again, "I'll try to keep them from losing points Lily but I can't perform miracles" Remus said with a shrug.

"Thank you Remus, you're the only one with any sense. How you put up with these three I'll never know." Lily ignored James's hurt look and walked back to join Hermione.

Hermione did not understand why Lily and James were not together yet. _I guess I have another mission. _

When the girls got back to working on their charms paper Hermione whispered to Lily, "Why do you avoid them so much? If you don't mind my asking. I mean, James can be a little arrogant, but I think he may actually like you. He looked like he was about to cry when you ignored him earlier."

Lily sighed, "I do actually like him, but he needs to learn that what he wants is not going to just fall into his lap." Hermione nodded. "I used to be very good friends with a boy from Slytherin, and well, the marauders bullied him mercilessly." Hermione's eyes widened, Snape. "I finally told them off about last year when I caught them being horrible to him outside and I just can't think of James in any other way now. When he grows up and stops thinking that he is king of the castle, then I'll gladly go out with him." Hermione smiled, she was going help James Potter grow up.

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Hermione was still having trouble sleeping through the night as nightmares plagued her and kept her awake. She had taken to going to the common room late at night after waking up with a scream and reading near the fireplace until morning.

She was trying harder and harder each day to fit in with those around her and act carefree and casual, but every time she saw James she thought of Harry growing up without him and how on earth she was going to save him. These thoughts continued for Sirius and Remus and she found herself not able to look at Peter or say more than a few words to him at a time.

There was still one thing that still made her feel normal, classes. She was still a know-it-all and raising her hand in class again made her feel at home. She didn't realize how advanced she had become with the help of the D.A and the Order until Defense class.

"Today we're going to be learning the patronus charm," Professor Archer sent her patronus into the air where it took the form of a lion and roared at the class, "Now it is very unlikely that anyone will be able to produce a fully formed patronus today, but I want everyone to think of their happiest memory and say the words _Expecto Patronum_ very clearly and we will hopefully get some results."

Wisps of white began to fill the room, but that was the majority of what the class were able to produce, except for Hermione. She was picturing Harry and Ron trying to de-gnome the Weasley garden at the Burrow, laughing and carefree. Hermione smiled to herself and said the incantation. A large Otter swam through the air and encircled Hermione making her feel safe. It flipped through the air and disappeared as the class and professor stared at her in awe.

"Excellent performance Ms. Granger! 20 points to Gryffindor," Hermione smiled as her fellow Gryffindors came to congratulate her, but had to leave when one boy smacked her on the shoulder in celebration and hit her, still fresh, bite from Greyback. She winced and excused herself from the class who all went back to attempting the spell.

Three Marauders looked concerned as she left the classroom holding onto her injured shoulder and the other tried to think of a way to describe his newest classmates' power to the Dark Lord.


	5. Full Moon

Author's note: Tralala I own nothing, But I LOVE all of your lovely reviews, alerts and favourites :) They make my day!

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Hermione had been feeling a little testy all day, but of course she knew why. Because she had been bitten by Greyback when he was not transformed, she now shared the same fate as Bill Weasley. She became agitated during the day of the full moon and she doubted if she would sleep at all tonight. She knew that she should be grateful, since she could be transforming with Remus tonight instead, but the heightened senses could not make up for the scars that she now carried.

She had spent the entire Saturday in the library trying to avoid others. That's where she saw him, Severus Snape, future potions master and spy for the Order. He was sitting alone, like her and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Hermione mentally added another thing to her checklist of things to change. _Stop the bullying and give Snape a chance to live._ He did not deserve to be used in the way that he was and now that she knew of most of the attacks to come, she could fulfill the role of "spy". Dumbledore had to know that Snape was leaning towards the dark arts and hopefully he would be able to change his mind.

Once the moon had risen she left her sanctuary and walked back to the common room to sit by the fire and read for the night. She had been jumpy all evening, so when she heard a thump near where she sat, she immediately sprang to her feet and sent a "Stupefy!" at the sound.

She noticed a half invisible Sirius Black now frozen near her chair. "I'm so sorry!" she hurriedly reversed the curse and the boy got up followed closely by James who removed the invisibility cloak. They sat on the nearby couch and both started rubbing their heads where they had smacked into the ground.

"What are you two doing down here? I thought most Gryffindors were in Ravenclaw tonight celebrating their win against Slytherin?" Hermione asked as she sat across from James.

James and Sirius looked at the obviously tired girl in front of them. She looked like hell tonight, almost as bad a Remus had looked all day. They looked at each other, trying to come up with an excuse as to why they would be missing a party.

"We, uhh, have a prior engagement," Sirius stuttered, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah, we're heading to Remus's house tonight. He's gone to visit his mother, she's sick you see, so he goes to visit her every month." James tried to sound sincere, but Hermione knew they were waiting to join him outside in their animagus forms.

"Oh, I assumed that he'd be somewhere safe tonight because he was a werewolf," Hermione said very casually as she opened her book and tried to ignore the stunned looks on the boys faces.

Suddenly there were two wands pointed at her face. "We're not going to let you come in here and spread rumours about our best friend," Sirius threatened. "How did you find out and who have you told?"

Hermione saw red at the wands pointed in her face. In the back of her mind she knew they didn't mean anything, but she could not stop the automatic reaction and immediately disarmed both boys and stared back at them angrily, "Never point you're wand at me again" she said in a strangely gravelly voice.

"Woah, Granger calm down!" Sirius raised his hands and backed away. "We're just trying to make sure our friend is ok. If you think we're going to let you tell everyone..." He was cut off by Hermione, "I haven't told anyone, and I am certainly not going to!," she yelled.

"I'm sorry, but I get a little angry around this time of the month" Hermione tried to clue them in, but both boys just blushed and looked away stuttering. "No, not that," she sighed, "I know about Remus because I was bitten by the same man as him," Hermione pulled aside the collar of her top to show them her scar.

At the boys shocked and confused looks she continued, "I was bitten by him while he was in human form, so I won't transform like Remus, but I recognized him as soon as we met. I'm sure he suspects that there's something weird about me too."

Sirius sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder, "Well then, since you know our Moony's secret you now have to swear to us that you will not reveal it to anyone."

Hermione simply nodded, "I swear that I would never tell anyone. Can you swear to me that you won't say anything about my werewolf-like problem?"

Sirius just smirked, "Well I'm sure we can make that deal."

James sat on her other side, "We know you have been through a lot, and we won't push you to talk about it. I'm not even sure I want to know why or how Greyback bit you while untransformed," Hermione shuddered, "But please, do not tell anyone about Remus. He's very...sensitive about it and he thinks people will abandon him if they found out."

"We of course have told him that that's rubbish and in fact," Sirius looked at James who nodded, "James, Peter and I each have an animagus form so that we can keep him company."

Hermione looked at the boys and smiled, "He is very lucky to have such great friends. I hope he knows that he has nothing to be ashamed of." Hermione looked out the window and rubbed her shoulder, "I suppose I am keeping you from him now then aren't I?" The boys nodded and Hermione shook their arms from around her, "Well get out there and make sure he's ok."

The boys got up and started to leave when Hermione sang out, "Oh, and James?" He turned to look at her, "Don't give up on Lily, she's warming up to you, I can tell. Just stop trying so hard and maybe ease up on the pranks a little." James's smile lit up the room.

"What about me?" Sirius looked at her hopefully "should I give up?"

Hermione looked a little uncomfortable as she tried to answer but stumbled over her words, "I-i-just, I don't think I'm ready to date someone just yet" she looked a little embarrassed and unconsciously rubbed at her bandaged arm.

Sirius noticed that she had become uncomfortable and tried to lighten the mood. He cut her off and winked at her, "Don't worry; I never give up on something I want."

James laughed at his friend and looked back at Hermione, "Thanks Hermione."

"Yeah and if you ever need someone to talk to, we're here." Sirius and James left through the portrait hole and Hermione smiled after them. They reminded her so much of Harry and Ron that it hurt sometimes to be around them. She was going to have to start getting to know the marauders because it was clear that Peter had already deflected to the dark and they were going to need help to see the truth.


	6. Hermit no longer

Author's note: Hello there! I own nothing of course...except a laptop and an obsessive love of fanfiction :) Reviews keep me going! and Alerts and favourites are flattering as well! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Voldemort looked down at the snivelling boy in front of him, "So she has power, interesting." Voldemort stood from his throne-like chair and approached his Death Eaters.

"This little girl comes out of nowhere and seems to have been tortured by some of my Death Eaters," he looked around the room. "I did not authorize and attack on this, Granger girl, and I do not know of her or her relatives. Having never heard of the name Granger, I'm assuming that she is a mudblood, but her power should not be this great if she is a filthy mudblood." He looked at the group of young men standing in front of their fathers, "According to our little spies at Hogwarts, she spends a lot of time with Dumbledore, so I am inclined to believe that she is working with the Order as well."

He walked towards the group of young Slytherins, "You will be my eyes and ears inside of Hogwarts. Report to me anything odd about her and I want to be immediately informed if she displays any more acts of magical prowess."

Voldemort was intrigued. This girl confused him and he did not like to be confused. No one could tell him where she came from or anything about her other than her name. The frequent meetings with Dumbledore gave him enough reason to have her watched and he would find out exactly who this little battered and broken girl was.

* * *

Hermione sat in Dumbledore's office discussing Voldemort and the plan of action she was to give the Order. Dumbledore had decided that it would be very suspicious to have a student attend Order meetings and leave the school grounds on various occasions. Because of this, he and Hermione began having meetings so that she could inform him of the horcrux locations and any upcoming attacks that she knew of.

"Are Gideon and Fabian Prewitt still alive?" Hermione asked nervously. Dumbledore looked at her and nodded his head, "Yes they are, and they are active Order members. Can I assume that they should take it easy in the coming months?" Hermione merely nodded her head in reply.

"The best thing we can do to prevent a future like mine is to start the hunt for Horcruxes now, "Hermione said seriously. "In my time there were six: Slytherin's locket, the Gaunt ring, Tom Riddle's diary, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem and Nagini his snake."

Dumbledore looked across his desk at the young woman who had seen too much in her life, "I can assure you that I will inform the Order immediately of these objects and that we will begin the hunt as soon as we find a lead on where one may be located."

Hermione smiled at Dumbledore, "I only know the location of one, the locket. You and Harry destroyed it and I saw the memory, so I can show it to you."

Hermione placed her memory into the pensive and watched along with Dumbledore. When they were finished watching, Dumbledore sat behind his desk once again, "I recognize the cave, I shall attempt to find out if he has, as of yet, planted the locket within and then I shall head out and retrieve it."

Hermione shook her head, "I am coming with you, that potion will leave the drinker weak and vulnerable to the inferi. You cannot go alone, and I want to be the one to drink the potion." Dumbledore began to interrupt her, but Hermione kept going with such conviction that he could not cut her off, "I know what you're going to say, but I need to be the one to do it. Sir, I do not think I can face the inferi and get us both out of that cave, you need to be at full strength and help me get out."

Dumbledore looked gravely at the young woman, "Very well Ms Granger, we shall go there as soon as I discover if he has planted the Horcrux there at this point. For now I expect your classmates are beginning to wonder where you've gone, so hurry along and I shall see you again in a week's time."

Hermione nodded, "Thank you sir," and walked out of his office with a wave and a smile. As she walked back to the common room she thought about what had just occurred, she was going to take out the Horcruxes and defeat him before he could ruin more lives. The thought came upon her suddenly and she smiled, forgetting what had happened to her in her future, she thought about Harry having a better one.

She was still lost in thought of a bright future when she collided with a solid chest and fell to the ground, "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was-", but she fell silent as she looked up into the face of Lucius Malfoy.

"Well, well, if it isn't Hogwarts' newest Mudblood," his arrogant drawl cut through her like a knife. The last time she had seen this man he was much older and throwing a _crucio_ at her while she lay in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor. She just continued to stare into his cold eyes as he glared at her, but as he reached for his snake-headed wand something broke inside of her and she raised her own wand.

"Do not use that word in front of me again," she snarled and cast a rather nasty bat-bogey hex his way followed by a _stupefy_. Because he was not expecting this from the girl still on the floor, he was hit and fell to the floor. As the hit the floor Hermione remembered where she was and that this Lucius had not hurt her, and hopefully, he wouldn't get the chance to.

She removed his wand, "_rennervate_," and pointed her own down at his face as he woke. "I suggest you refrain from using that word around me or anyone else again Malfoy, or next time I will do more than stun you."

He made a move to grab his wand, but she thrust her wand further into his face, "Think about which side you are on Malfoy because it is never too late to return to Dumbledore and the light." With that she walked around a stunned Malfoy and continued on down the hallway, but stopped momentarily to throw his wand in his direction.

When she got back to the common room she bypassed Lily and the Marauders, who were vying for her attention, and ran to her bed. Once again she pulled the curtains closed, cast a silencing spell and sat in the middle of her bed, thinking.

At first she had been terrified to look at Malfoy again, but she became so angry that she could not control herself and lashed out at him. It struck her that there were others in Hogwarts right now who had hurt her as well and she began to hyperventilate_._ She could hear Harry and Ron in head: _Calm down. Breathe. You can do this._

She relaxed and truly begin to assess her hermit-like situation. She had been ignoring a majority of people and choosing to sit out of Hogsmeade trips and Quidditch matches for almost two months now, it had to stop.

She was going on the next Hogsmeade trip and if she had to go with Sirius Black to get Lily and James together, then so be it. Jumping off of her bed, she walked back down to the common room. Waving at Lily, who was doing some homework, Hermione walked over and sat next to the Marauders, who looked a little surprised, but delighted at her change of attitude.

"Good evening boys" she said with a smile, "what kind of pranks are you up to tonight?"

Sirius looked up with a smile, "Well Mione," she looked a little startled at the nickname, but did not interrupt, "we're trying to get the Slytherins to be sporting a lovely shade of red hair with some nice golden highlights at our Quidditch match tomorrow, but we can't quite figure out how to go about it."

Hermione smirked remembering Fred and George pulling a similar prank in her future, "Well, if you do not mind taking some pointers from someone outside of your marauders, I could tell you exactly how to pull that off."

Remus looked up at her and patted her on the back, "These guys told me that you know my secret and they told me about yours as well. I think it's fair to say that we trust you, so you may as well get to join in on some pranks." James and Sirius agreed with Peter just staying silent.

Hermione stayed with the Marauders late into the night discussing how to go about their prank on the Slytherins. Hermione truly felt at home, being with Remus, Sirius and James was just like being back with Harry and Ron and she then decided that she was not going to be a hermit any longer.


	7. The Boggart

Author's Note: I wish I owned these characters...but sadly i'm a poor student and am merely playing in J.K's universe :(

Thank you so much for the faves/alerts and reviews!

* * *

Hermione had stuck with the boys since that night a week ago when she decided to stop wallowing in self-pity and despair. She was still having regular nightmares and still heavily wearing her glamour charms, but her mind was healing slowly. So far she had managed to avoid talking about her life before arriving so strangely at Hogwarts. Those who were her friends respected her enough to not question her and those who didn't know her, were too scared to approach her.

She had heard various rumours spreading around the school about her being the victim of a Death Eater attack, being a captive of Voldemort, being a Death Eater who switched sides and even one rumour that she was attacked by a pack of werewolves and was now a pack leader, though that one was disproved when she was spotted in Hogwarts in a full moon.

She stuck close to Remus, Sirius and James and thus was slowly bringing Lily closer to James. She knew that Lily was beginning to see a softer side of James and Hermione expected them to be going on the next Hogsmeade trip together, as long as James could keep his ego in check that is. The Marauders and Hermione were in their regular spot right near the fireplace in the common room and she was currently the center of a game of twenty questions.

"Favourite book? Come on Remus!" Sirius Black moaned, "She gives us 20 questions and you ask what her favourite book is?"

Remus just laughed, "Well, I love _Hogwarts a History_ too Hermione."

Hermione smiled and sipped her Butterbeer as James and Sirius continued to make fun of Remus for asking a "nerd" question.

"How about a simple one" James suggested, "When is your birthday Mione?"

This was the first time that Hermione realized she had forgotten her own birthday. She had been more caught up on all the information that she could tell Dumbledore and had lost track of time.

"My birthday was on September 19th" she responded quietly.

"WHAT!" Sirius yelled and jumped to his feet. "You didn't celebrate your birthday? We have to do something about this!"

"Sirius, really, it's no big deal. I had just gotten out of the hospital wing and was avoiding everyone. There's no need to feel like you need to do something." Hermione made Sirius sit down, though she knew this wasn't over, and asked for another question.

After pulling off a few very successful pranks alongside the Marauders, Hermione began to realize why Fred and George loved doing it so much. She discovered that being around these boys brought her out of the depression-like state that she had been stuck in since she arrived in the past.

She had noticed that the more she began to hang out with the boys, the less Peter would be around. He seemed to be avoiding her, yet she also noticed that he seemed to be afraid of her and she would catch him looking at her, especially during class. She had tried very hard to not stand out again in any class, but being Hermione, she just could not resist raising her hand and answering a question perfectly or brewing a potion well enough to get points for her house.

Every time a professor would praise her or give her points, she would see Peter staring at her, and it was beginning to unnerve her.

"OK class, today we will be having a practical lesson," Professor Archer said as she vanished the desks and made the students gather around an old trunk that was rattling, "Can anyone guess what we will be dealing with today?"

Hermione knew exactly what was coming and found herself flashing back to third year when she answered perfectly, "That's a Boggart isn't it?" With a nod from the professor she continued, "Boggarts are shape-shifters, they take the shape of whatever a particular person fears the most."

"10 points for Gryffindor" Professor Archer beamed, "Now there is a simple spell that will repel a Boggart. I want everyone to repeat after me, Ridikkulus!"

The class repeated the spell numerous times and when she thought they were ready, Professor Archer made then line up to face the Boggart.

After a long stretch of spiders, vampires, snakes and the other norms, Hermione stepped up towards the now unravelling mummy. Even she did not know what she was about to face. She ran through various possibilities in her head, Voldemort himself, Greyback and Harry and Ron telling her she would fail were all running through her mind as the Boggart began to take shape.

Bellatrix Lestrange stood in front of her with her wicked smirk and her bent wand pointed at Hermione. _It's not real, it's not her. Focus. Say the spell. _She tried to remember that it was just a Boggart, but the fake Bellatrix began to walk towards her.

"You filthy little Mudblood," Hermione began to tremble as Bellatrix got closer. "Didn't you like my present? Why do you have it all covered up? I did a lovely job," She reached out her wand arm and pointed at Hermione's arm. The other students in line were beginning to get nervous.

"Hermione! Say the spell!" Sirius was shouting from behind her. He thought that this mystery woman looked very familiar, but he couldn't place her, and he noticed the fear that crossed Hermione's face as soon as she started talking.

"R-Ridikkulus!" but even as she said it Hermione knew that it wouldn't work.

James Potter, who was next in line saw the Boggart beginning to reach out to Hermione and he knew that she was too scared to move, so he intervened.

As he jumped between the strange woman and his friend, the Boggart shifted into the red-headed girl of his dreams.

"Pathetic Potter" she laughed, "As if I would ever go near you."

Hermione finally snapped out of her trance and upon noticing her friend beginning to shake she leaned towards him to whisper in his ear, "I swear that you have a chance James, don't give up."

James closed his eyes and then opened them and shouted, "Riddikulus!" causing Boggart-Lily to burst into butterflies that flew around the room.

Professor Archer immediately coerced them all back into the trunk, "Ok class, that's enough for today. Those who didn't get a chance today will have another chance to practice, don't worry."

The class began to pack up, but Hermione and James were still staring at the trunk. Hermione was taking deep, calming breaths and James came over to her, putting his arms around her, "Thanks for bringing me back to my senses."

Hermione looked up and smiled at him, "Thank you for stepping in front of me." She took a shaky breath, "I knew it wasn't real, but I just couldn't move."

"I understand completely," he hugged her and Hermione felt like Harry was with her. She was very comfortable around James because he was like a carbon copy of Harry and this made her feel safe.

"Remember, if you want to talk about who or what that was, I'm here," he looked across the room where Sirius, Remus and Lily were standing and staring at the pair, "and you have others too. Whether you like it or not, you're not getting rid of us now, we Gryffindors stick together."

Hermione smiled at him and they walked over to meet the other three. Lily immediately drew Hermione into a hug, after a strange glance in James' direction.

The small group walked back to the common room and sat near the fire eating sweets. This was where Hermione decided that it was time to plant the seed of doubt into her friend's minds.

"Hey, where's Peter tonight?" Hermione nonchalantly brought up the topic of Peter and added, "Is he with those Slytherin guys again? I never knew he was such good friends with Slytherins, I guess it's great that he's bridging the gap between houses right?" Hermione just smiled and ate another chocolate frog as if she had no idea of the bombshell that she had just dropped on her friends.

James was the first to respond, "What do you mean he's friends with Slytherins?"

"Oh, well I've seen him a few times hanging out with some guys from our year, Malfoy, Nott, Dolohov and I don't really know the names of the others. At first I thought they were bullying him, but then I noticed them around more often and he seemed to be getting along with them."She noticed the horrified looks on the boys' faces as she was speaking.

"Excuse us ladies" Sirius said standing, "We need to have a little chat."

James, Sirius and Remus walked up to the boys dorms with worried looks on their faces and speaking in angry, hurried whispers. Hermione knew that Peter was their friend, but she was going to do whatever it took to keep her new friends safe.


	8. The New Marauders

Author's Note: Tralala I own nothing, if I did, I would be the one at the Olympic Opening Ceremony! J.K, Voldemort and Gilderoy Lockhart at the Olympics...oh how I wish I was British!

* * *

The Marauders had slowly become a group of three over the next month. Peter had been slowly weeded out as the boys noticed his odd behaviour and they had confronted him about it. He tried to blame Hermione for their loss of friendship, but when the word 'mudblood' fell from his lips, they knew that he had changed.

The others couldn't believe that meek, little Peter would be friends with the boys that had bullied him since first year, but a spying mission involving a certain invisibility cloak proved otherwise. When he didn't deny using dark magic or believing in pureblood values, the others could not trust him anymore.

These boys had been like brothers for so long that they expected to noticed a huge gap in their daily lives, but they soon noticed that having Peter in the group was not a lot different than him being kicked out. He was always quiet and just followed along with whatever the other three were doing, so now the boys were as strong as ever.

The three remaining Marauders had made an oath to one another that they would not keep secrets and that they would never betray each other. They felt more like brothers now than ever before, and Hermione could tell that she had succeeded in keeping Peter from becoming secret keeper.

The boys had become very close to Hermione as well and she found herself beginning to have strange feelings for a certain marauder. Sirius Black had become relentless in his pursuit of a date with Hermione and she found herself beginning to question why she was saying no.

Though she was much more sociable, she was still very self-conscious, especially about the 'present' from Bellatrix. She knew telling anyone where she was really from was forbidden, but if she were to start a relationship she would hate to keep any more secrets than she needed to. Hermione was confused by Sirius Black, on one hand she knew that she felt something for him, but on the other, she didn't know if she could open her heart. Opening up about all of the torture that she had endured would be hard and though she was proud of being a Muggleborn, the scar was still red and ugly and would be for a long time. That scar, and the various assortment that she kept glamoured, were always in the back of her mind and she knew what questions would follow once she revealed them.

As she watched Remus, Sirius and James sitting together and laughing over Sirius's horrible impersonation of McGonnagall, she thought to herself, _Now you will have the family you deserve, Harry. Remus and Sirius would never betray the Potter's location and hopefully, there will be no one to betray it to by the time you're born._

"Well my little troublemakers," Hermione said as she interrupted the marauders at lunch, "Any interesting pranks that I can lend a hand with today?"

The boys looked up at Hermione and smiled, "Actually Ms. Granger, we have something to ask you" Sirius replied, "meet us by the fire tonight?" Hermione nodded and for the rest of the day was wondering what the boys could possibly want to talk about. However, she had to put it in the back of her mind because she was meeting with Dumbledore this afternoon and she was hoping this was the day that the locket would be destroyed.

* * *

"Peppermint imps," Hermione said as she stood outside of Dumbledore's office. She entered the office and saw Fawkes sitting on his perch, "Hello Fawkes", she gently stroked his feathers while he let out a soft trill.

"Welcome Ms Granger" Dumbledore walked down the stairs leading to his personal study and came to stand by Hermione and Fawkes. "I trust you are ready for an outing this afternoon?"

Hermione looked up at him excitedly, "The locket is there?' at his nod Hermione smiled. _I may actually be able to do this, _She thought to herself.

"I thought it prudent to wait until a Saturday for our departure. If anyone should ask, you are with Minerva for the afternoon arranging your accommodations for the Christmas break."

"Professor" she questioned before he could continue, "Where _am_ I going for Christmas break?" Hermione had forgotten that Christmas was coming up soon and she just assumed that she would be staying at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore simply smiled, "You will be staying here of course, but I believe Minerva did want to talk with you about spending the day with her. I shouldn't say anymore about it as she will probably want to talk with you herself." He walked behind his desk and grabbed a cloak, "Ready to go Ms Granger?" he held out his arm for her to take.

Hermione walked towards him and accepted his arm, "As ready as I'll ever be!" As soon as she grabbed his arm they were gone in a quick crack of apparation and appeared at the opening of a cave.

Everything went perfectly until it was time to drink the potion and Dumbledore tried to make her reconsider again. Even for a powerful wizard like Dumbledore, arguing with Hermione Granger was not advised. She convinced him that she would not be able to force him to keep drinking, not after seeing the memory that Harry had given her and that she did not think that she could aid Dumbledore and fight the inferi to get out of the cave.

Before he could argue any longer, Hermione gulped down the first cup of potion, so Dumbledore had no choice but to allow her to continue.

Immediately, Hermione's mind became filled with her worst memories. Everything from being friendless in her first year, to being called a mudblood know-it-all and horrible memories right up to her torture began to flood her brain. The scar on her arm was one of the worst of her physical scrs, but her mental scars ran deep and would need a lot more time to heal properly. Death Eaters had a way of breaking you completely and making it hard to rebuild yourself.

Dumbledore kept feeding her the potion and Bellatrix's voice echoed in her head, _Mudblood bitch. Mudblood scum. You are not worthy of your magic. Greyback has been wanting to get his paws o you for a while._ She shut her eyes tight and tried to refuse the potion that kept coming her way.

Finally, it ended and Dumbledore's voice became clear through the fog of her mind.

"Ms Granger? Hermione, are you ok? Can you hear me?" He sounded so worried, but Hermione's eyes fell on the locket clutched in his hand and she rapidly blinked away the horrible thoughts.

"Did it work?" she replied feebly, "You have the locket? The real one?" She grasped Dumbledore's outstretched hand and shakily stood.

He wrapped an arm around her waist to stabilize her and smiled brightly, "Yes Hermione, it's the real locket. We are on the way to defeating him." At her smile and laugh Dumbledore became serious once again, "However, I must ask one thing of you before we continue with the hunt for the rest of these horcruxes."

Hermione simply looked up at him and asked, "Anything Sir, anything to defeat him once and for all."

"I shall be doing all of the dangerous steps involved in our next journey. I never want to witness one of my students in that kind of turmoil again. So I must tell you that should a horcrux involve such dark magic as this potion, I shall be bringing another Order member along with me, or you shall allow me to take on the risks."

Hermione understood what he was saying and nodded her head in agreement, "I understand completely sir and I swear that I did not think myself strong enough to cross the water with the locket while helping you. I will trust your judgement from now on and will do anything to ensure that these objects are destroyed."

"My dear," Dumbledore replied gently his eyes twinkling, "I believe that you are much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Anyone who can stand proud as you do today after all that they have done to you is anythign but weak."

With a quick hug and after resting for a few minutes, Dumbledore helped Hermione back into the boat which the inferi immediately began to swarm. They were nothing compared to the massive flames that Dumbledore conjured to surround the boat and guide them safety.

Though she knew that the others would be hard to find, Hermione felt fantastic. One Horcrux down 5 more to go, but Hermione had no idea where to find the others. She stayed in Dumbledore's office for another hour to discuss the possible hiding places of the remaining objects.

"You destroyed the ring, sir. I am not sure where you found it and in my time the cup was within the Lestrange vault at Gringotts and the diary was in Lucius Malfoy's possession." Hermione thought about where they may be now and she watched Dumbledore write down the possible locations. Then she realized something, "Harry had talked about how important Hogwarts was to Tom and he kept wanting to return to Hogwarts because he truly felt that something was hidden here. I think he was right Professor, I think the Diadem of Ravenclaw is here."

Dumbledore looked up quickly at her and gave her a smile in return. "Well them Ms Granger, I believe we are another step closer to our end. I shall look for it immediately and inform you as soon as it is within my possession. There is little about this castle that I do not know and these walls have many eyes that have been around for centuries," Dumbledore stood from behind the desk and walked to Hermione who stood and gave him a hug.

He held open the door for her, "I believe your friends will be looking for you Hermione. Relax for the rest of the weekend and I shall inform you immediately of the Order's thoughts on our recent acquirement."

"Thank you Sir, I will see you soon." She walked out of his office with a smile on her face and a spring in her step.

As she walked towards the common room she remembered that she was supposed to talk with the Marauders about something. She noticed the three boys sitting by the fire with the map spread out in front of them.

"Hello boys!" she greeted happily as she sank down onto the couch next to Sirius.

"Ah-ha! Here she is!" James exclaimed, "We were starting to think that you forgot about us." He made an exaggerated sad face and placed a hand over his heart.

"Sorry, I was having tea with McGonagall discussing Christmas break." Hermione smiled and placed an arm around Sirius's shoulder and leaned into him, "How could I ever forget three handsome young men like you were waiting for me."

She laughed at the blush that appeared on Remus's face, but the blush ended up on her own face as Sirius turned and hugged her, "I knew you'd give in eventually!"

They all sat and laughed as Sirius tried to give Hermione a kiss with quite exaggerated puckered lips.

"Down boy!" she swatted him away and moved to sit next to Remus. "So, what did you need to discuss with me anyway?" She grabbed a chocolate frog from the table and leaned back onto the couch.

"Ah, now we must get serious, don't say it Sirius!" James cut off Sirius's frequently used joke and continued with the business at hand.

"We have a slight problem now that Peter has revealed himself as a true rat" he picked up the map from the table and showed it to Hermione. "The map contains all of the nicknames that we Marauders have given each other, but we no longer want Wormtail to make an appearance."

Hermione smiled, but then became confused, "So why don't you just erase his name from the map?"

Sirius took over for James and continued, "Well Moony, Padfoot and Prongs presents the Marauder's Map just doesn't sound right, we need four names."

At Hermione's blank look Remus tapped the map with his wand and revealed the new name that appeared on the message, "Moony, Mione, Padfoot and Prongs proudly present, the Marauder's Map."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed, she stood with the map clutched in her hands as tears began to well in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away so no one would notice her becoming emotional.

"Well, you're basically a Marauder already, so we thought we should just make it official," James said.

Remus nodded and stood next to her, "we would have failed in most of our recent pranks if you hadn't been around," he laughed as Sirius stood and yelled, "Group hug!"

The new Marauders stayed in their group hug for a few minutes and Hermione found herself unable to hold back the tears any longer.

"What's wrong?" Sirius immediately let go of Hermione and took her by the shoulders to stare her in the eyes.

"Happy tears" she laughed. "I just, I don't know what I'd do without you guys. I'd probably still be hiding out in the library on full moons and avoiding everyone but Lily."

Sirius drew her into another hug and rubbed her back, "You're a Marauder now, Mione. That means you will never, ever, be alone again."

They sat in the same spot for hours planning pranks and Hermione even got them to get a head start on some homework. Hermione was giving James advice on how to be humble and ask Lily out on the Hogsmeade trip after Christmas break. The whole time she was giving James advice she did not notice the other black-haired boy next to her listening intently to everything that she was saying.


	9. Happy Christmas

Author's note: I had a slack day at work, so I got to write some more :) I'd like to dedicate this one to acciothemagic and booklover9477 who have been such wonderful reviewers! And to everyone who has said such nice things about this random story that popped into my mind thank you and i'm taking the criticism and trying to add more detail and make my chapters a little longer. Thank you all so much for reading/alert-ing/ favourite-ing and reviewing!

oh..and i'm not JK Rowling..blah blah none of it's mine :(

* * *

To say that Peter Pettigrew hated Hermione Granger, would be a bit of an understatement.

Whenever he was in the Gryffindor common room, he was by himself or with some younger students. He watched his old friends from afar and would flinch every time they would glare at him. He had been a Death Eater for over a year now and was doing an excellent job keeping his secret, but this random, new girl had to come and ruin everything.

He told his master of the new girl ruining his trusted position within Gryffindor and Voldemort became very interested.

"How did she know you were working with us Peter?" Voldemort said in a quiet, but threatening voice. "Were you stupid enough to let your Dark Mark show in her presence?" he got louder and began to approach Peter and the rest of the young Slytherins.

"NO my Lord, no, I swear! I've never revealed the mark and I was very careful to attend meetings in my animagus form so no one would see me entering the dungeons. It's impossible that she could have known, I-I swear!" Peter dropped to his knees before Voldemort and begged.

"SILENCE!" Voldemort yelled and sent a crucio at Peter, "Clearly you have been careless and now I have no spy!"

Voldemort turned from the group and walked back to the center of the room, "I think it is time that I meet this girl who can render one of my junior Death Eaters frozen and wandless." He glared at Lucius who in turn glared at Peter because he must have told Voldemort of Lucius's encounter with the girl.

"On the first Hogsmeade trip after Christmas break, bring your cloaks and masks, and when your marks burn, join us," an evil smirk crept along his snakelike face, "We shall soon see exactly how powerful this little girl is and if she proves a problem," he smirked at a snivelling Peter, "we shall have to simply _remove_ her from Dumbledore's pocket."

* * *

None of the Marauders were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, neither was Lily and Hermione felt herself missing them greatly. Though she had been invited to the Potter's, the Lupin's and Lily had asked her to come at least for Christmas Eve, she had declined and chosen to stay with Minerva.

She was enjoying catching up with McGonagall and Hermione told her various stories of how much trouble she had gotten into during her younger years at Hogwarts.

"You're sure that you do not mind staying in this castle even though all of your friends are gone home?" Minerva asked on Christmas morning over tea.

"Not at all" Hermione smiled, "I've missed talking with you in my own time and I feel so comfortable being with you."

Hermione had received a pile of books and chocolate form her friends, except for Sirius. She was shocked when she opened the small box and discovered a beautiful charm bracelet with a dog, a wolf, a stag and a book dangling from it.

Her boys often joked that if she ever mastered the animagus transformation that she would change into a book. Little did they know, Hermione had been working closely with Minerva over break and was extremely close to becoming an animagus.

"It seems that Mr Black has developed quite an interest in you my dear" Mcgonagall laughed as Hermione blushed. "The other professors have noticed too. That poor boy follows you around like a lost puppy."

Hermione blushed heavily and stared down at the beautiful present in her hands. Sirius had been writing to her a lot over the break and Hermione was beginning to find herself unable to stop thinking about him.

His mother had disowned him last year and he was now living with the Potters, who loved him dearly. Sirius had mentioned it a little, but never spoke of the incident surrounding his family.

Sirius and James must be coaching each other as Hermione had heard from Lily that James was writing her everyday as well and that he seemed to be changing his bullying, arrogant ways. Right before break, he and Lily began to talk more and even started hanging out by themselves.

Hermione smiled to herself, _James Potter there is hope for you yet!_

Minerva continued to tease her about Sirius and they both laughed and spent the morning opening presents. When they had finished and were sitting and talking, McGonagall brought up something that made Hermione very excited.

"Would you like to attend an Order gathering with me this evening, Hermione? We have been invited for Christmas supper and I thought that it would interest you to meet the other members of the Order."

Hermione's face lit up at the chance to meet some of the people who would be helping her give Harry the life that he deserves.

"Yes please!" she answered immediately. "I would be thrilled to meet some of the Order."

Around 5 O'clock, Hermione was standing in front of Minerva's private floo network ready to go.

"Ready to go?" At Hermione's nod, McGonagall handed her the floo powder and said, "We will be arriving at the home of the Weasley's, so when you step in you need to say The Burrow."

Hermione smiled and nodded, but on the inside she was beginning to freak out. _Oh Merlin, Mr and Mrs Weasley! I had completely forgotten that they would be members now._

In a flash of green she found herself standing in the house that had become another home to her over the years. The smell of food wafted through the house, just as she remembered and she could hear voices laughing and talking which reminded her of home.

All of a sudden she found herself in the middle of a fight between two young red-headed boys.

"Give it back Charlie! That's my broom!" 7-year old Bill Weasley was screaming at his younger brother who had taken refuge behind Hermione's legs.

Hermione looked down and realized that the little 5 year old, currently taunting his brother with the stolen broom, was the dragon taming man that she once had a crush on.

"William Weasley! You stop all that shouting this instant!" The voice of Molly Weasley rang through the house and Hermione's heart filled as a pregnant Molly entered the room with her hands on her hips in proper berating fashion.

"And you Charles Weasley, you know that that broom is too big for you, yours is still under the tree. Return it right now before you get hurt."

Both boys immediately stopped their arguing, Charlie handed back the broom, Bill grabbed his hand and they both ran back towards the tree and the mountain of presents.

Hermione laughed at the antics of the boys; it was so fantastic to see these carefree little boys running around on Christmas. Every time she saw something so wonderful her mission became clearer. Bill would never be touched by Greyback if she had anything to say about it and Charlie would be able to raise and tame his dragons in peace.

The boys were now giggling quietly and looking in her direction and Hermione was so focused on happy memories that she failed to noticed Mr and Mrs Weasley walking towards her until she was wrapped into a hug that she never thought she'd feel again.

Mrs Weasley's hugs had the warmth and love that made you forget your troubles and feel at home.

"You must be Hermione!" Molly exclaimed, "You're far too skinny, is Hogwarts slipping Minerva?"

Hermione laughed along with the older women as Mr. Weasley grabbed her into a hug as well, "Welcome to our home, Hermione and Happy Christmas. I'm Arthur Weasley and this is my wife Molly."

"It's a pleasure to meet you and thank you so much for inviting me to your home, it's absolutely amazing." Hermione noticed the slight blush on Arthur's face and she knew that they did not think much of their little home, but what the Weasley's lacked in money they tripled in love and it showed throughout their home.

"Come on into the kitchen darling, supper is ready." Arthur took her hand and lead Hermione into the kitchen where she was greeted by numerous people, some that she knew and some that she had only heard of.

"Welcome girly" a gruff voice said as she was being hugged by the Prewett twins, "Perhaps later you can fill us in on how such a young girl knows about such dark objects and how they are connected to You-Know-Who." Alastor Moody limped over to where Hermione stood and his eye whizzed around in its socket.

"Now, now Alastor, none of that talk, it's Christmas!" Molly complained.

"It's fine Mrs. Weasley, he's just being careful. Constant vigilance is important during these times." Hermione replied with a smile.

Moody nodded at her words and came forward to shake her hand as Albus Dumbledore's voice rang out from the fireplace, "Happy Christmas to all!"

He came forward and placed a large bag of presents by the tree, which Bill and Charlie immediately climbed into and began ripping open. A young girl ran from behind the legs of the couple Hermione was just meeting and began ripping open presents as well, "Nymphadora! What have I told you about running?" Andromeda Tonks looked sternly at her daughter whose hair had turned a violent shade of blue.

"Sorry mum" she replied.

Hermione noted that Tonks simply never grew out of her clumsiness as the girl tripped over nearly every toy scattered along the floor.

There were a long list of people to meet and since each had heard of her arrival at Hogwarts, they asked her several questions, but after Dumbledore assurance that she had no memory of what had happened, they talked of more pleasant things. Hermione mentally tried to remember everything she could about the people she was meeting so that she could inform Dumbledore on how to keep them safe.

She knew that Marlene McKinnon and her whole family would be wiped out and the beautiful, happy young woman, currently singing Christmas carols with Caradoc Dearborn, needed the chance to live. She needed to tell Dumbledore right away about Benjy Fenwick, as his death had been particularly gruesome and he deserved so much better.

When her eyes fell on the young newlywed couple talking to Mr. Tonks, her heart almost broke. Frank and Alice Longbottom, how could she have forgotten about Neville's parents? They were so young and happy, Neville would be born in a few short years and then they'd be tortured into insanity.

_That will never happen. I've been so focused on Harry that I forgot about Neville, but his parents will raise him this time around. Bellatrix will never get near them._

"Happy Christmas Sir!" Hermione beamed up at Professor Dumbledore as he walked towards her with a shiny gift bag in his hands.

"And to you as well my dear," he enfolded her into a hug and as he let her go, he handed her the bag, "I think you'll find this quite exciting."

Hermione accepted the bag and opened it to find a blackened tiara nestled within some brightly colored wrapping paper.

Letting out an awkward squeak she looked up excitedly at Dumbledore, "You destroyed it?! I can't believe you found it!" _You were right about Hogwarts, Harry._

Dumbledore proceeded to inform the others of the newest achievement and the house became filled with even more Christmas cheer.

Everyone began to find places around the table and began to eat the delicious feast that Molly had prepared. Hermione was seated between Minerva and Arthur, but half-way through the meal a certain little red-head came and whispered in his father's ear and Arthur moved to a new seat. Bill Weasley smiled up at Hermione from his newly acquired seat and blushed, "do you have a boyfriend?"

Hermione laughed and a picture of Sirius Black flashed in her mind, but shaking it away she thought of Bill's beautiful wife Fleur and replied, "No I do not Mr. Weasley, but I think that one day you're going to marry someone much more beautiful than I."

Bill just started at her and then giggled and went back to his food. He continued to stare at her all through supper and ask her various questions about herself. When everyone was done eating, they retired to the sitting room to relax and socialize.

Hermione joined Marlene in her next round of carols and attempted to get on Moody's good side by giving a short explanation of how she had escaped kidnapping and torture by Death Eaters. She left out most of the detail and merely focused on the fact that she was able to escape. Moody seemed to lighten up to her then and she no longer felt his eye following her around.

Hermione also learned that James's parents were members of the Order as well, but they were not present tonight because of a family get together. Hermione wished that she could meet the elder Potters because she had never heard much about Harry's grandparents. Apparently their death had been natural and Hermione knew that she would not be able to change their fate.

Attempting to cheer herself up from the gloomy path that her thought had taken, she joined Benjy and Caradoc in an odd 3-person waltz that was accompanied by a chorus of singers. The sitting room was abuzz with activity as the Firewhisky was passed around. The kids were still running around the house and playing with everything that they had received that morning.

Bill had followed her around for the rest of the night and when Molly came to put him to bed he was snuggled in Hermione's lap and she was reading him one of the new books he had gotten for Christmas.

"I think you have an admirer darling," Arthur laughed as he picked Charlie up from his place on the floor where he was colouring.

As Molly took Bill's hand, Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Herm-inny, can you come visit some more? I'm going to be a big brother again soon and you haven't even met Percy cause he's a baby and he sleeps all the time."

Molly and Arthur smiled at their tired little boy, "Hermione can come back whenever she would like to," Arthur said happily.

"Thank you very much Mr Weasley," Hermione remembered a similar time when Mr Weasley had invited her to stay for as long as she wanted and once again she hid her tears. The only reason that she had denied their offer to take her in after her parents death's was because Minerva had offered as well and she did not want to place an extra burden on the already large family. The Weasley's were the most loving and caring people that she had ever met and she would ensure that Mrs. Weasley's brothers lived long lives and that her children would never fight a war.

When everyone began leaving Molly took Hermione to the side and smiled at her, "We've all heard of the condition that you arrived in my dear, and I want you to know that you are always welcome here and that I am a fantastic listener if you would like one."

Hermione lunged into Mrs. Weasley's arms where she stayed wrapped in the most wonderful hug that she'd felt in a long time until Minerva walked into the room. Minerva brought her the floo powder and after another round of hugs and goodbyes, they disappeared in a flash of green flames.


	10. Giving In

Author's note: I'm just playing around in JK's world

* * *

"Are you serious?! I'm so happy for you! James is definitely bouncing off of the walls right now." Hermione Granger sat and stared in astonishment at Lily Evans who was wearing a huge smile on her face.

"He wrote to me every single day over Christmas break and he was so sincere about everything. He kept saying how he was always too nervous to talk to me, so he would resort to acting like an idiot. He even promised to stop bullying Severus." Lily took out the letters and showed a few to Hermione.

"He sent me the most beautiful promise ring for Christmas and said I should wear it if I promise to never go out with anyone else. He even invited me to his house for Christmas Eve, it seemed like it was so insanely fast, but I have always kind of liked him. I guess that I just needed him to prove that he was serious about me. I told him that our first official date will be next weekend during Hogsmeade." Lily had a goofy, far-off look on her face as she spoke.

Hermione had heard stories from Remus and Sirius in her time about how Lily and James went from hating each other to acting like an old married couple so fast and now she knew why. She was beginning to get afraid that her presence in this time had caused something to go wrong and maybe Harry wouldn't be born at the right time or at all. She wanted Harry to grow up in the same time so that Ron, Neville and all of their other friends would get to meet again.

"I'm so happy for you Lils, I knew that you'd come to your senses. That boy would never do anything to hurt or upset you; he has been crazy about you forever."

"I always thought he was so arrogant and just trying to annoy me by constantly asking me out in front of everyone. He basically told me that he would never date anyone else and that he would wait as long as it would take for me to say yes." She continued with a sly smile, "Are you aware that there is another boy who would do the same for you? One that I am fairly certain you have a little crush on as well."

Hermione blushed and looked away from Lily, "Ok, enough girl talk" and she grabbed some gobstones, forcing Lily to play and forget about Sirius Black. Though she and Lily talked through the night, Hermione's mind was not completely focused. She had decided that she could not ignore her feelings any longer and was going to have to find someway to deal with her love for Sirius.

Dumbledore had told her that her reality no longer existed, but it still existed in her mind and the carefree, goofy Sirius she knew so well was being interchanged with the escaped convict whose life was stolen from him.

Hermione tried to sleep, but the combination of her new nightmares, about all of the people she had just met dying, and how she could act on her feelings for Sirius while trying to ignore her past, lead her to yet another sleepless night.

* * *

It was the first full moon since break and Hermione knew that she would not be sleeping at all. Once Lily had fallen asleep, Hermione decided that it was time to show the Marauders what she had learned over break.

With Minerva's help, Hermione had completed her animagus transformation and was now able to transform into a beautiful snowy owl. She was a little surprised when she first transformed and found herself in owl form, but she had always wanted to fly and was too afraid to trust brooms or any other means of transportation. Now she was able to control her own flight and besides, owls were a symbol of wisdom as Minerva pointed out, so it did seem to fit.

She quietly opened a window in the girls dorm, transformed, and gracefully flew towards the Shrieking Shack. She could hear the howls and barks coming from the boys running around the grounds nearby and when she spotted Prongs, she flew down and landed on one of his antlers.

Inwardly, Hermione began laughing as James tried and tried to shake her off. She stayed near the boys for the rest of the night and watched as they play-fought and ran through the forest. As the moon began to sink, Padfoot and Prongs began to coerce Moony back into the shack and Hermione followed along.

She had witnessed Remus's transformation once in her own time, and it had been horrifying to watch, but now as he shrank and his howls turned to screams, it seemed even worse. In her time, he had been much older and had dealt with the transformations for so long that it seemed a part of him, but now he was so young and it just seemed so much harder to watch and so much harder on him.

Soon her brother, in all but blood, lay panting on the floor of the shack, covered in more bruises and scratches. She watched as James and Sirius transformed smoothly back to human form and, after a few moments, handed Remus his clothing, which he painfully struggled into with help from his friends.

Hermione looked away as he changed and once she heard them talking she let out a soft "hoo" and they all looked in her direction.

"Why is there an owl in here?" Remus asked, his voice still scratchy and weak.

"The bloody thing was following us all night! It sat on my antlers and I couldn't get it off! Shoo you pest!" James began waving his hands trying to shoo the bird away.

Hermione flew into the air and turned back into herself and landed in front of James, "I am not a pest!" she said and then swatted his shoulder playfully.

The boys stared at her in shock, "What the?!" was all Sirius could mutter, and James fared no better.

"You're an animagus!" Remus said happily and moved to hug her, but could not get further than a few steps before he fell. Hermione walked to him and gingerly helped him up and gave him a big hug.s

"It took us ages to figure it out, how did you do it so fast?" James complained.

"I spent the entire Christmas break with Minerva McGonagall, a master of transfiguration and an amazing animagus, she helped me with everything. Plus I had already read the theory in a book. . ."

"Of course! We should've known you would have read up on everything first" Sirius teased and he too went forward and hugged her. He noticed the bracelet on her arm and a small smile came to his face.

"So, on the next full moon I will be out there with you! I'm sure Moony will love trying to catch me," Hermione smiled, but Remus looked worried.

"Mione, please don't egg Moony on, if I ever bit you, even in owl form, I would never forgive myself." He was looking down and avoiding eye contact with everyone while leaning heavily on a nearby table.

"Oh Remus, don't worry! I promise that I will be careful, but I want to keep you company. Plus, being in animagus form on the full moon takes away some of the weirdness that my bite causes." She absentmindedly rubbed her bite mark.

It was at that point that they heard a voice from downstairs, "Mr. Lupin? Black? Potter? Ready to head back to the hospital wing?"

"We're on our way Madame Pomfrey!" James yelled back.

Hermione told them to go on ahead and she began fixing the furniture that Moony had destroyed last night. Remus tried walking forward, but was still quite weak. With the help of James and Sirius he got downstairs and Madame Pomfrey escorted him back to his bed.

"Go ahead mate, I need ask our Mione something important" Sirius told James as the exited the tunnel.

"Finally got the courage to ask her out properly?" James laughed, "Maybe you can join Lily and I at the Three Broomsticks." James continued on towards the castle and Sirius stayed behind waiting for Hermione.

Hermione was surprised to see Sirius waiting for her as she exited the tunnel, "What`s wrong Sirius?"

"Nothing, I just thought that I'd escort you back to the common room," he held out his arm for her to take.

"Thank you, kind sir," Hermione laughed as she took his arm and they started to walk across the grounds.

Sirius Black was a ladies' man and had never, ever, been afraid to ask someone out; however, Hermione Granger was different. Ever since she arrived, she has not liked to be touched. She had gotten much better around the boys, but at first they could barely hug her without a flinch. He knew getting her to let go and open up would be extremely hard as her past was such a terrible mystery.

She was different, and that's what he liked about her. She didn't care about make-up and gossip and he knew that if she ever gave him a chance he would never let her go.

He had laid on the charm, but nothing.

He had pleaded with her and asked her to every single Hogsmeade trip since she had arrived, but nothing.

She always seemed so sad and even when she tried to hide it, he noticed. She sometimes got this faraway look in her eyes and she seemed to disappear to another world. He hadn't been noticing it as much lately, but he truly just wanted to make her happy and make her forget whatever horrors gave her such regular nightmares.

"Hermione", he started timidly and she immediately looked up at him as neither of the boys had used her full name in a while, "I know I've asked you a dozen times, but... would you please consider accompanying me to Hogsmeade?"

"Sirius, I-I," but he cut her off before she could turn him down.

"I know you're probably going to say no and that you're not ready to date someone. I know a bit of what you've been through and if you think being tortured or bitten makes you tainted or anything other than a strong, beautiful woman that I want to be with then you don't know me very well Mione."

Hermione just stared in shock at her friend. Sirius Black had never spoken like this before. He seemed so sincere that she was struck speechless for a moment as he stared at her. She knew that she wanted to say yes, but that damn little voice in her head kept reminding her of what had happened during her torture and she could still hear Bellatrix in her mind, telling her that she was ruined.

"Sirius, I do like you. I've liked you for a long time now, but you can do better. I wear glamours, Sirius. I have so many scars that I've lost count and I..."

"Stop it Mione," Sirius interrupted. "I couldn't care less about your scars, so you cannot use that excuse. I don't expect you to tell me everything that's happened to you, but I just want a chance to make you happy. Your past is your past, I want the future."

By now Hermione was crying, he shot down her excuse so fast that she knew he was being sincere and did not care about her past. She had never thought that liking someone could be this hard. _Ron isn't even born yet. I can never get back to him or Harry._ Her internal struggle over her old feelings for Ron and Sirius being Harry's Godfather was stopped when she reminded herself that she could never go back. _Everything is changing. What if she and Sirius did get together, maybe she could be Harry's Godmother._ She laughed at herself and turned to look at Sirius again.

"Alright." She whispered.

Sirius's head popped up and his smile was a mile wide, "What?! You'll come with me, on a date?"

At Hermione's nod, Sirius launched himself at her and placed both of his hands on her cheeks. Smiling and laughing he brought her face to his and kissed her, then grasping her waist, he lifted her into the air and twirled her around. Hermione had been kissed before, but Krum paled in comparison to Sirius Black.

_He's Harry's Godfather. _Part of her mind protested.

_Not yet he isn't and that life is gone now, time to make a new one. _This is it, she had resigned herself to the fact that her old life was over and it was time to make a new, safer one for everyone.

Hand in hand they walked back towards the castle and into the hospital wing to meet up with Remus and James. When they entered, the boys were sitting on Remus's bed playing a game of Exploding Snap. At the sound of the door, they both looked up from their game and noticed the entwined hands of their fellow Marauders.

"Finally!" Remus exclaimed, "I was wondering how long it would take you two to come to your senses."

James laughed and walked to the new couple, "I was only kidding about the double date you know Padfoot. This is my first real date with Lily, and I'm not sharing it with you."

"Bloody hell mate, you think I want you sitting in on my date?" Sirius replied laughing.

Hermione smiled at her new best friends and knew that this would work out. As long as she kept working with Dumbledore and could defeat Voldemort before Harry was born and the prophecy was revealed, she might be able to ensure that everyone gets the life that they deserved. She looked at Sirius as he squeezed her hand and smiled.

The four friends returned to sit on Remus's bed as they did every day after the Full Moon, only this time two of them were holding hands and sharing secret looks.


	11. First Date Ruined

Author's note: I bow to the skill of J.K Rowling and would never claim to have an iota of the talent that she has. As always, thank you SO much for the reviews, alerts and faves! :)

* * *

_I am being ridiculous_. Hermione scowled at herself in the mirror. She had tried on so many different outfits that she was beginning to feel like Lavender Brown. _It's just Sirius, he has seen you in sweats and crying, I'm sure he won't care what you wear today._

The only true date Hermione had ever been on was the Yule Ball and that was such a grand event that she truly did not know how to handle a small, casual date. She and Viktor had been surrounded by other couples all night, and they never really _dated_ after the dance.

"You still haven't picked anything?" came the amused voice of Lily as she walked out of the bathroom dressed and read to go. "You know that the boys will be downstairs in about 15 minutes right?"

Hermione let out a frustrated groan, "I've never been like this before! I just can't decide."

Lily walked over to the pile of clothing laid out on her bed and picked a simple pair of jeans, tank and a cardigan, "Go put this on."

As Hermione was getting changed she heard Lily laughing from her bed, "You know that it's snowing right? So you'll be wearing a jacket most of the time, as well as a hat, so you don't need all of these hair products."

Hermione just frowned and with a flick of her wand sent everything back into her closet, "I may have forgotten about that," she admitted.

"Are you really not nervous at all?" Hermione asked the calm and collected Lily.

"I think I've imagined my first date with James a hundred times, and when I went to his house over break we were alone most of the time talking, so I feel like this is technically our second date." Lily just laughed as Hermione now tried to pick a hat from her collection.

"You and Sirius are constantly with each other, you'll be fine Hermione!" Lily tried to be comforting, but couldn't stop smiling and laughing as Hermione tried to fix her hair underneath her hat for the hundredth time.

Hermione wondered if this is what a normal 17 year old girl is like before a date. She and Ron had never had the chance to let their feelings be known to each other properly before they had been brought to the Manor. She never had anything other than a crush on Viktor and now she thought she was feeling the beginning of something much more than a crush. Butterflies morphed into bats inside of her stomach at the thought of another kiss with Sirius Black, but Lily grabbing her hand and hauling her downstairs brought her back to reality.

James and Sirius had been ready for a while and were currently waiting at the bottom of the stairs talking about Remus, who had just left to meet his date in the Ravenclaw common room.

"Hello boys, ready to go?" came Lily's cheery greeting as she and Hermione descended the stairs.

James immediately came forward and pulled Lily into a kiss, "Allons-y!" James shouted and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the portrait hole

Sirius was a little more calm and collected, but also greeted his date with a kiss and walked her out of the common room, albeit a little less goofily.

"Where's Remus? Is he going to Hogsmeade too?" Hermione was not good at making small talk and Sirius just laughed.

"Talking about another man is not quite the way I envisioned our date beginning" Sirius teased, but answered anyway, "Our dear Moony has got himself a date as well. Apparently he's been seeing a Ravenclaw girl behind our backs for a while now."

Hermione smiled, "I'm so glad he's got someone. He really needs to learn that not everyone thinks he's dangerous."

They continued down the path to Hogsmeade as a light snow fell around them. Their conversation ranged from school gossip to, of course, Quidditch and how Gryffindor would surely win the cup this year.

_I was being such a girl. _Hermione thought to herself. _It's just Sirius._

"Do you want to go to Madame Puddifoot's?" Sirius asked as the building got closer.

Hermione eyed the girly shop with trepidation, "Umm, would you mind if we just went to the Three Broomsticks?

Sirius breathed a big sigh of relief and kissed Hermione on the cheek, "Thank Merlin!"

They continued walking through the snow and spied Remus and a very pretty girl entering Honeydukes. Hermione couldn't help but think about Tonks when she saw Remus with someone else. _Did Remus ever mention having girlfriends before Tonks? _Hermione knew that those two getting together now was out of the question, but they were married in her time and it was weird seeing him with someone else.

_Perhaps now he won't be left on his own for so long and he'll find someone else._ Hermione began to feel a dilemma coming on. She knew how much Remus and Tonks loved each other, but the guy couldn't stay single forever. _Maybe time will put them together anyway._

Blinking away her annoying thoughts of a now non-existent future, Hermione slid into a booth beside Sirius.

"Two Butterbeers Rosemerta love," Sirius smiled and Rosemerta winked before leaving to get their order.

"Do I have to be jealous of Rosemerta?" Hermione teased.

"After all I went through to finally get to you say yes, don't think I'll be giving you up any time soon." Sirius laced his fingers through hers on top of the table.

"Oh look!" Sirius pointed out through the window where James Potter was being dragged into Madame Puddifoot's by a laughing Lily, "Poor Prongs, his girlfriend is not as cool as mine apparently."

They sat talking and passing love-y dove-y looks at each other for a little while, until they heard the first scream.

* * *

Severus Snape watched as many of his fellow Slytherins walked off together towards the trail leading to the shrieking shack. This would not end well.

Lately he had begun to doubt the path he had previously planned out for himself. The Dark Lord had promised him fame and fortune in return for his skill as a potion master. He had been nervous when Lucius frist brought him before the Dark Lord, but now he awaited graduation and the chance to get his Dark Mark.

But then, the new girl arrived. She was a good-for-nothing Gryffindor, but occasionally they had talked while studying in the library and she seemed to know what he was going through. She told him to talk with Dumbledore and that Dumbledore would always be forgiving if he got in too deep.

Then he saw Pettigrew after his failure and realized that he may be getting in over his head. The boy was a wreck, and Severus _never_ wanted to look weak.

Perhaps the Death Eaters were not everything that he once thought and perhaps the Dark Lord would be defeated after all. At least, that's what the new girl thought.

He pondered this on his way back to the castle. Severus Snape saw the masks being put on and knew what was coming, and he wanted no part of it.

* * *

Sirius and Hermione immediately jumped to their feet along with everyone else inside the Three Broomsticks and ran to the windows to look outside. Smoke and debris was flying through the air, and that's when Hermione's blood ran cold.

Death Eaters.

There were dozens of them, apparating in all over the village and sending spell after spell at anyone they could see. Chaperoning Professors and some of the older students began to fight back and everyone else tried to get the younger kids back up to the castle.

That's when she saw him, Voldemort himself emerging from a cloud of black smoke. Without thinking twice, Hermione ran from the window and into the street where she began to fire spell after spell at any passing Death Eater. Sirius was screaming her name, but he came behind her and began to fight as well.

Hermione had learned the talking patronus from the Order members in her time and immediately conjured up her patronus and sent it to the castle with a message for Dumbledore telling him to come as quick as possible.

She fired a spell at Voldemort when she noticed him advancing on a group of students being helped by Minerva and Voldemort immediately turned to Hermione and smiled.

She kept casting a quick succession of spells in his direction. They were of various strengths and some were even on the darker side, but Hermione knew that the time for disarming onlyhad past.

"So this is the little girl I've heard so much about," the cold voice sent shivers through Hermione's spine as all of her spells were deflected and she found herself face to face with Lord Voldemort.

Hermione knew that she was a powerful. She knew that she could fight the Death Eaters and defeat many of them, but Voldemort was a whole other story. She had to keep his attention on her and keep him from hurting anyone else until Dumbledore arrived to face him.

"Don't you normally send your lackeys to do your dirty work, Voldemort? I've heard that you don't show your face very often." Hermione was trying very hard to be as brave as she could.

"Ah yes. The powerful, mystery child. Hermione isn't it?" He asked.

"Yes, it is. Tom isn't it?" Hermione retorted.

Anger flashed in Voldemort's red eyes and he sent Hermione to her knees with a slashing spell that cut along her torso. Though she was now bleeding badly, she rose to her feet again and returned fire. The voices of Sirius, Remus, James and Lily were ringing out through the street. It seemed as though the Professors and older students had gotten most of the Death Eaters under control and her duel had gained an audience.

Voldemort had erected a shield to keep the Professors from interfering and was simultaneously fighting Hermione and keeping it around them. Hermione could feel a probing sensation just behind her eyes and knew that he was trying to use legilimency on her. She had practiced Occlumency a little, but knew that she could not keep him out for long, so she began firing more advanced spells to keep him busy so that he could not try again.

"How do you know of that filthy muggle name, girl?" the anger seemed to be radiating from him and Hermione could almost feel it.

Hermione did not know what to say. Obviously she could not tell him that she was from the future, but obviously he knew that there was something different about her.

Hermione just kept cryptic, "I know a lot of things, Tom."

"I understand why my spies were so interested in you, my dear. Most would be dead by now in a duel against me." He was taunting her, but Hermione kept quiet and kept her focus on her spell work.

"Hogwarts does not have transfer students and I do not know the Granger name. Who are you and why have you been telling lies? You should be punished Her-mi-o-ne." He overly pronounced her name and it sent shivers through her body, but Hermione just kept quiet and tried to keep him out of her mind. She would not give him the satisfaction of an answer.

"Why so quiet my dear? You are to be commended on your skill; however, I believe it is time that this duel came to an end." With that, he knocked Hermione off of her feet and sent a cruciatus curse her way.

Hermione lay on the street, writhing in agony. She had lasted so long under Bellatrix's torture, but Bellatrix was as gentle as a kitten compared to the raw, evil power that Voldemort displayed. Hermione's screams echoed off of the walls and through the street and soon turned into desperate sobs and weak croaks.

Through her blurred vision, she could see people banding together to try and take down the barrier and come to her aid, but they had no such luck. Then, in a whirl of white smoke, Albus Dumbledore appeared and in one smooth motion, toppled the barrier and ran to Hermione. When he saw the condition that she was in, he immediately began casting stasis and healing charms, but Voldemort did not let him get very far.

"You've been keeping her hidden, Dumbledore. I've never seen this girl before, yet you claim that she was attacked by my Death Eaters. What are you planning?" Voldemort was seething with anger, but he spoke in such a quiet voice that it sounded even more menacing.

Dumbledore turned his full attention towards Voldemort as he saw Poppy arrive and run to Hermione and the people that were now surrounding her. "She is of no concern to you Tom, merely a lost girl who has come to Hogwarts for aid. Is this how powerful you've become; resorting to attacking school children in order to win duels?"

Voldemort heard the apparation pops around him as the Order of the Phoenix arrived on the scene and the remaining Death Eaters departed. He simply smirked and pointed his wand towards a barely conscious Hermione.

"This is not the last time we shall meet my dear," he hissed.

Hermione shook as more tears cascaded down her cheeks. She had tried to be strong, but she could not avoid the aftershocks caused by the cruciatus.

With an evil grin on his face, Voldemort vanished and the Order began rounding up the Death Eaters that were stupefied or bound.

Dumbledore immediately turned and went to Hermione's side where Madame Pomfrey was rapidly casting spells to make her stable enough to be moved back to the castle.

Sirius was holding one of her hands tightly and talking to her in order to keep her conscious and Remus was holding the other. A bruised and scraped Lily and James were holding each other for comfort as they stared down at their friend.

As she tried to focus on Sirius's gentle voice, she noticed that the Professors were helping the wounded and trying to clear some of the rubble and repair the buildings. She had felt this bad only once in her life, and that was right before she had arrived in this time. The wounds that Bellatrix and Greyback had inflicted on her had left physical and mental scars that would never heal. The Dark Lord had the power to make those wounds seem trivial.

Her head was splitting and her chest was a mess of blood. She knew that she should be focusing on whatever Sirius was saying, he sounded so worried and she just wanted to reach out and tell him that she was fine.

"C'mon love, just stay awake. You looked worse than this the day we met. Remember that? You took Remus out and tried to take me hostage, so you can get through this no problem." Sirius was pleading with her. His own injuries were minor and he was solely focused on keeping her awake.

Remus's ankle was clearly broken, but because of his monthly transformations the pain barely registered and he stayed focused on his friend. Lily had stopped trying to be brave and now stood with her head buried into James's chest, sobbing. Who could blame her though?

James was quiet. Just silently staring at his three best friends on the ground before him and clutching the love of his life to his chest as she sobbed. A few tears leaked out and he didn't try to stop them.

This strange girl had become so much to them. She did not care about anything but helping others and for some reason, people wanted her dead. James could not imagine ever going face to face with Voldemort, but Hermione had run out into a fight and took him on right away to prevent him from hurting someone else.

James knew then and there that the fight wasn't over. Voldemort was getting bolder in his attacks and it was time to stand up and fight. The Marauders were family and they would protect each other to their last breath. Locking eyes with Hermione, James gave her a small smile and he could tell that she was trying to smile back, but a spasm overcame her.

Madame Pomfrey rendered Hermione immobile, so as not to cause any more damage, and moved her onto a magical stretcher. Hermione knew that she was on her way to safety now, but she could no longer keep her eyes open and she fell into darkness with Sirius's voice still in her ears.


	12. Recovery

Author`s Note: Tried to get this chapter out asap cause i`m leaving for University tomorrow, so my next update may be a little late. I`ll try to update once school is sorted!

Thanks so much for the reviewséfaves and alerts, you guys make me smile :)

* * *

The light was harsh against her eyes, but the soft voice kept encouraging her to open them. She tried again and managed to make out the blurred figure of a man standing above her. _He must be the one holding my hand,_ she thought to herself as she felt something squeeze her hand.

"Can you turn off the lights?" She heard a voice whisper softly.

The brightness decreased and she blinked rapidly before opening her eyes fully and taking in what was around her. She was in Remus's bed in the hospital wing and the aforementioned friend was sitting in a chair on her right.

Various beds in the hospital wing were occupied with students, but none looked overly bad.

"Ah, you're up, excellent! Drink this please," came the stern, but comforting voice of Madame Pomfrey.

She lifted a shaky hand, but Sirius took it and lifted the vial to her lips. Giving him an appreciative smile, she swallowed the disgusting potion and immediately began to feel better. With Sirius's help, she sat up in bed and he placed some pillows behind her back for support.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Some water? How about some food?" Sirius Black would not stop fussing over Hermione, but she was too tired to argue with him.

"Is everyone else alright?" she croaked, her voice still not back to normal.

"Lots of broken bones and cuts, but you were the only one truly injured Mione. You've been out for a few hours now." Remus rose from his seat at her side and kissed Hermione on the forehead. "I'm going to go and tell James and Lily you're alright, Madame Pomfrey would only let two visitors at a time."

Hermione just nodded and squeezed his hand, "Tell Prongs that I'll be ready to check over his homework tonight."

Remus laughed and with a final wave, left the hospital wing.

* * *

"Did Dumbledore stop him?" Hermione asked once Sirius had joined her in the hospital bed. He was sitting behind her and could feel the tremors begin to run throughout her body.

"Voldie disapparated before Dumbledore could get him," Sirius responded sadly as he rubbed her trembling arms.

"Why did you fight him alone?" his voice had an angry tone to it, but he could not be mad at her when she was in this state.

"I just couldn't let him hurt anyone else, not after everything he's done."Sirius noticed that Hermione seemed to go off into her own little world again.

"Hermione...he seems so interested in you, I-I just..." Sirius ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He loved this girl so much and now the most powerful, evil wizard in the universe wanted her dead.

Hermione grabbed his hands and turned his face to hers, "I know Sirius, I know. I promise that I will tell you why he is so interested in me." _Well, I'll tell you most of the truth. _Hermione thought.

_This is why you shouldn't be with anyone, _her mind argued.

_I'll tell him everything, except for the time travel. Bellatrix, Greyback, the horcruxes, everything. _Hermione had been thinking about how to keep her conscious at peace and had decided that after Voldemort was defeated and Harry was safe, she would ask Dumbledore to erase the memories of her past.

It was a big decision that had left her with many sleepless nights, but if she was successful and she survived, then she wouldn't be able to live with two timelines jammed into her mind.

"Can you promise me that you will be safe?" Sirius pleaded.

"No," Hermione answered, "I can't, but I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to ensure that everyone else is."

Sirius let out a mix between a sob and a laugh, "You're the only one that I'm worried about!"

Sirius put his arms around her waist and held her tighter as a small tremor shook her.

"I'll ask Pomfrey to get you something, she told me to let her know if you experienced the side effects of the cruciatus," Sirius made to get up, but Hermione held on tighter.

"Please don't move," she pleaded softly, "I'm so comfortable and their not as strong as the ones I had when I first arrived, so I can handle it."

Because the tremors were few and far between, he didn't move and simply held her and talked to her until she fell asleep. Once she was completely out, he scooted out from behind her and went to Poppy's office where he asked her for the potion.

* * *

Hermione remained in the hospital wing for another day before Madame Pomfrey finally let her out. The wound on her chest had been healed, but it was right on top of her previous scar from her encounter with Dolohov in the Department of Mysteries. The scar had now grown bigger and it no longer physically hurt, but it hurt for Hermione to look in the mirror.

Another angry red scar now greeted her when she looked at her reflection, which meant more glamours everyday.

The main damage was from the torture curse, but the tremors had mostly subsided and Poppy gave her another vial of potion that should put an end to them.

After several tests to prove that her brain function was normal, she had been allowed to leave the bed and attend class normally, but her first stop was Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Ice mice," Hermione said as she approached the door. The stairway opened and she walked up to the Headmaster's office.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's voice through the door, "Ah Hermione, clean bill of health I see?"

"Yes sir," Hermione smiled, "just a little worse for wear."

Dumbledore motioned for her to sit down and she did, but not before noticing that his trademark twinkle seemed to leave his eyes.

"Did we not have a deal about dangerous situations?" he asked.

"There was no other way sir. The Professors were helping students and Voldemort was advancing on them; I just had to step in."

"I understand, my dear. You truly are a magnificent witch," she blushed as his words, "to have survived against Tom for so long proves your strength. I am so very proud of you." The twinkle returned and he smiled at her.

Hermione's eyes began to well up with tears and she smiled. For Albus Dumbledore to be proud of you was a wonderful feeling.

"Professor, he's not going to stop coming after me is he? He knows that there is something weird surrounding my arrival and he knows that he did not order an attack on me. If he captures me and is able to read my mind, the whole world could suffer." Hermione began to ramble off various scenarios, but Dumbledore simply raised his hand for her to stop.

"I swear to you that he will never get that close to you again Hermione," the seriousness returned to his face, "You are safe at Hogwarts for the rest of the year and once you graduate, you will join the Order fully and you can remain at Headquarters."

"If there is a way to stop him that involves me leaving protection then you know I will do it and you will not be able to stop me," Hermione returned with a seriousness of her own.

Dumbledore let out a sigh, "I know, but know that I will do everything to ensure that that does not happen."

They shared a look across the desk that spoke volumes. Both were willing to do anything to make sure that Voldemort did not gain any more power and Hermione was trying to make Dumbledore see that the lives of thousands was more important than the life of 1 girl, but she knew that he would never think that way.

"Do you have any leads on the locations of the next Horcruxes?" Hermione said, trying to bring the attention away from herself, "Also, you never did tell me how you destroyed the diadem."

"You told me that it needed to be destroyed beyond repair, so I used Fiendfyre, which is rather uncontrollable and immensely destructive. About the other horcruxes however, I believe that I have located the Gaunt ring and have several Order members working on tracking it down. I am actually hoping that they will contact me very soon, perhaps even this week. The diary and the cup were in possession of Death Eaters in your time correct?" he questioned.

Hermione nodded, "He gave them to Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy sometime before 1981 for safe keeping. It is plausible that he has already given the horcruxes to them; however, it would probably be in Abraxus's possession since Lucius is still in Hogwarts."

Dumbledore nodded and smiled at her, "You have thought this through haven't you Ms Granger."

Hermione looked up at him sadly, "It's almost all I _can_ think about, sir. In a year, he needs to be defeated, that is my goal. The sooner, the better because I cannot live through the deaths of all of those wonderful people that I met over break."

Fawkes let out a soft trill and landed on the back of Hermione's chair, as if sensing the woman's sadness. With renewed strength, Hermione and Dumbledore continued to discuss how they could discover the locations of the cup and diary.

"Do Aurors still do random raids on suspected Death Eater's homes? We could get Moody to run a check of the Malfoy Manor and tell him exactly what to look for. With his eye he should be able to find a needle in a haystack, so a diary shouldn't be a problem." Hermione's mind was working a mile a minute once again, trying to think of various solutions to their missing horcrux problem.

Dumbledore's eyes were shining and he smiled, "You continue to impress me every time we meet Ms Granger. I will ask Alastor to see what he can do and I will notify you as soon as I know anything about the ring. Now I think I have taken up enough of your time tonight and I'm sure a certain group of Gryffindors will be eager for you to return to the common room."

Hermione nodded and with a quick thank you, she left his office and found Sirius sitting in the hallway waiting for her.

"Sirius what are you doing here?" she asked surprised.

"Well, I had to make sure that you were alright. I know you're super strong and independent and everything, but you were hurt and you're still not at 100%, so I'm sticking annoyingly close to you for a while." Sirius replied happily as he laced his fingers through hers and began walking back to Gryffindor Tower.

"I know that I should be arguing with you right now, but is it wrong to say that I'd be happy to have you annoyingly close for a while?" Hermione laughed and Sirius kissed her forehead as they approached the portrait hole and walked inside where they were met by Remus, James and Lily.

Hermione sat snuggled between Sirius and Remus on a couch by the fireplace until late that night. The group simply sat, talked and laughed with each other and tried to forget what had happened. Hermione was not allowed to take the potion for another hour and was still experiencing very minor tremors, but Sirius would hold her tight every time she would begin to shake.

As she saw Remus kiss Arya, his new girlfriend from Ravenclaw, good night; she dropped her head to Sirius's shoulder and began to think about the new future that she had created.

_Remus Lupin, you will never be alone again. Tonks will have no trouble finding someone else and if you are meant to be together maybe you'll find each other in a few years. _The little girl that Hermione had met over break still believed that boys has cooties, so it was very strange to think of her dating anyone, let alone someone Hermione's age.

"Mione" She looked up to see everyone staring at her, "Um, no pressure or anything, but we just want to let you know that we're extremely curious as to why old Voldie is so desperate to get to you," James said sheepishly.

Hermione let out a deep sigh, "I know and I'm sorry that I've been so cryptic since I've gotten here, but, well..." Hermione stopped for a minute to look at her friends; _I need to just tell them, at least about the horcruxes and hunting them down. The personal stuff will be for Sirius only, but they deserve to know what is happening._

Looking around to make sure that they were alone, Hermione cast a non-verbal _muffilato, _to ensure that no one could overhear.

"Ok, I think I owe you all an explanation," they all moved closer to her as she took another deep breath to continue, "Voldemort is looking for me because I know how to destroy him."

Everyone began talking at once and trying to figure out what she could possibly be talking about, so she raised her hand to silence them and continue.

"I know information that can lead to his death once and for all and the fact that I'm a mudblood doesn't exactly make him love me either," she added.

"Never use that word again Hermione, you're the brightest girl I know and should never put yourself down," James had never sounded so serious before and Hermione just smiled and nodded as she saw him squeeze Lily closer.

"I was captured by Death Eaters and escaped, which is when I arrived here. Since then, I have been working with Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix to stop Voldemort before he can become more powerful and hurt more innocent people."

After a few moments of shocked silence, James spoke up, "My parents are in the Order, but they keep telling me that I'm way too young to be inducted."

"I'm not a full member yet" Hermione responded, "I kind of just pass on information and help with a few minor things. I am joining as soon as we graduate." She decided not to tell them about going on dangerous missions with Dumbledore, especially since she knew Sirius would go mental.

"Well then, we shall be joining you after graduation," Remus responded resolutely.

A chorus of _yes' _followed this and Hermione simply smiled at her friends. She knew that they were members of the original Order, so she did not expect them to be left out this time around.

Sirius slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, "So, how exactly are you going to destroy him anyway?"

His nonchalance about destroying the most powerful dark wizard in the world lifted Hermione's heart and made her laugh as she turned to hug her boyfriend.

She tried to explain the situation as simply as possible, "Voldemort has split his soul into several pieces and placed these pieces into various objects of importance. In order to defeat him, he must be killed, but the pieces of his soul must be destroyed as well or he will just return."

"He destroyed his soul?" Lily sounded horrified, "No wonder he is so evil."

The Marauders stayed in their usual place until late that night and Hermione told them as much as she could about Horcruxes. Any knowledge that she had learned from Harry, she now pretended came from Dumbledore, which lead her friends to further believe that he was all-knowing.

That night, the five friends never made it to their rooms. Falling asleep in front of the fire, Hermione felt a small weight lift from her shoulders and her usual nightmares let her rest peacefully for the first time in months.


	13. The Truth mostly

Author's note: Not mine blah blah... p.s University sucks and my work load is huge and lots of essays this semester, but hopefully I'll still be able to get updates out and not leave you waiting for like a moth between chapters :)

Thanks for the reviews/alerts and faves! They make me write faster!

* * *

Hermione recovered quite quickly from the Hogsmeade incident, but since then, trips had been cancelled. The village was slowly rebuilt and Voldemort had not been spotted since, but the Order and the Ministry were on high alert and ready for anything.

Sirius was telling the truth when he said that he would be remaining annoyingly close to Hermione for a while, and shockingly, she was not overly bothered. She only got mad when he began to interfere with her school work.

Hermione was taking her NEWTS seriously because she felt like this was a second chance at her education as well as defeating Voldemort.

Hermione spent most of February inside the library with Lily, studying. She was happy to discover that Remus's girlfriend was a lover of book as well and took her school work very seriously, which helped the girls bond, but Hermione knew that Remus was thinking of telling her his secret and this made her nervous.

Remus, like Hermione, felt that major secrets held back relationships, which is why he did not enter one lightly. He had told his fellow Marauders that he was beginning to feel serious about her and felt that he should tell her the truth and give her the option of accepting him or not.

This caused Hermione to think, _Sirius deserves the truth. He needs to know what I've been through and how messed up I've become_.

If Remus could reveal the truth of his lycanthropy, then she could reveal her scars and her history. Dumbledore had forbid her to bring up the future to anyone and after much arguing, had conceded to erasing the memories of her future once the battle was won.

"Mione, what did you get for number 11?" Remus's voice broke her out of her thoughts and she continued on with studying for the rest of the night.

* * *

As they got closer to graduation and no closer to locating the final horcruxes, Hermione was getting worried. Moody had managed to convince the auror department to do a raid on the Malfoy Manor and Hermione was waiting very impatiently for the results.

She hadn't met with Dumbledore in a few weeks now and she was hoping that this meant that he was on track to finding the cup or closer to the ring. He had told her that the ring was close, but still no word. I guess she couldn't expect to find them all right away, but she was really hoping that this time it would be easier.

Hermione was one of those girls who tended to laugh at couples who fawned all over each other in public, but it turned out she was now best friends with one of those couples. As she watched James chase Lily around the common room and finally catch her and drag her onto the couch, she found herself no longer annoyed at the public displays.

"Mione, please help meeee" whined James Potter, "Tell Lily that there's lots of time to finish her stupid charms essay and that she should stay here with me and not go to the dull library."

Hermione just shook her head at her friends, "James, you know that I love that dull library right? I was actually just headed there myself to work on that _stupid_ charms essay and I would love it if Lily would-"

She was cut off as Sirius placed his hand over her mouth and dragged her onto the couch next to James and the still struggling Lily.

"I am not letting you spend such a beautiful day cooped up in the dusty, old library." He and James shared a look and at the same time, rose from the couch and threw their girlfriends over their shoulders and began running down the hallways.

The snow had melted and the sun was beaming down on the grounds of Hogwarts. The boys ran through the courtyard towards a giant tree sitting on the grounds. As they approached, the screams of the girls on their shoulders caused Remus Lupin to look up from the book that he had been peacefully reading in the shade of the tree.

"Sirius Black if you don't put me down already, you will not be walking straight for a long time!" Hermione had been fine until they got outside and the wind began to pick up. She knew that anyone around was getting a good show of her skirt flying around in the wind.

Sirius and James collapsed on either side of Remus, "Where's Arya today, Moony?" James asked, noticing the absence of the lovely Ravenclaw that had become a fixture over the last month.

After revealing his lycanthropy to her, Arya had needed a little while to think it through, but after a day, came to Remus and told him that she didn't care. She reasoned that since she had been with him for 3 months now and she never suspected anything that he clearly wasn't a danger to her as long as she wasn't hanging around him in werewolf form.

It was clear to the others that she loved him, regardless of his "furry-little-problem" and Hermione was extremely excited that he could feel normal for a little while.

"She's in the library, she had an essay to finish up."

Hermione and Lily looked at each other and Lily spoke up, "See, Remus let's his girlfriend do her work on time without making a big scene of it."

She laughed as James made a pouty face, "I just thought you needed some sun. You and Mione have been in that library forever studying for NEWTS. Everyone knows you're going to do fine, so relax a little."

The group stayed outside and played with a little golden snitch that James had in his pocket. They chased it around and formed teams once Arya emerged from the library.

As it got late and they all headed inside and to bed, Hermione found herself downstairs and sitting by the fire after being awakened by a nightmare.

She was sitting with her knees to her chest and staring into the fire when Sirius came down from the boys dorms, "Couldn't sleep love?" she jumped a little at the break in the silence.

"Just a little nightmare, so I thought that I would come down here for a while." Hermione smiled as Sirius came and joined her. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

"I thought the nightmares had stopped?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"They did stop for a while, but since Hogsmeade they've started again." She admitted quietly.

Sirius simply squeezed her shoulders, "I wish you'd go get some dreamless sleep from Madame Pomfrey. I know that you don't want to get dependant, but at least you'd get a couple nights' sleep. You can't keep going with only a few hours."

Hermione was looking into the fire the entire time that Sirius was speaking and came to the realization that Sirius wasn't going anywhere. They were getting quite serious and Hermione now could not deny that she wanted this relationship to last.

"Sirius," Hermione whispered up at him, "Can we talk for a while?"

Sirius knew from her tone that this was going to be a serious conversation and immediately hugged her closer before answering, "Of course, love."

"I know that you think we can survive anything, so I think it's time to tell you what you're getting into with me." Hermione took a deep breath, "I love you, Sirius. I truly do and I just need you to know what I've gone through and then I will gladly let you leave this relationship, no questions asked."

"I've already told you that I don't care about your past, love. I only care about our future, but I know it's important to you to get this off of your chest, so just know that I'm here to listen."

Hermione moved away from Sirius's embrace and sat facing him with her legs crossed under her and Sirius did the same. He grabbed her hand as she stared talking.

"Well, you know that I was kidnapped right before coming here, but I've never told you why. My best friends and I were on the run from Voldemort and his Death Eaters because we know how to destroy him. There are pieces of his soul hidden in objects of importance and we were hunting for them."

At Sirius's very confused look she tried to explain it as simply as she could, "It's a very dark form of magic."

"Anyway, we were found by Snatchers and taken to one of the Death Eater's homes, which Voldemort was using as a stronghold at the time. They wanted information and because I am a Muggleborn, they decided to take me for questioning first."

At this point, Hermione dropped Sirius's hand and raised her wand to remove her glamour charms. Because she was in her pajamas, he arms and legs were exposed and one by one her scars became visible.

"My friends were brought to the cellar, I still have no idea if they were hurt, but a little while later there was a giant commotion and they tried to rescue me. The ones that were torturing me never let them get close enough to grab me and I was too weak at this point to put up much of a fight. They were being overpowered and I knew that Voldemort was coming, so I made them remember our promise and told them to get out."

Hermione traced the letters carved into her arm, "We knew it was a dangerous mission, so we promised each other that if one of us was in danger and the others couldn't guarantee safety for everyone, that they'd get themselves out and try again when it's safer. I knew that my boys would never leave me, but there was no way that they could save me, so I made them leave."

Hermione was starting to get upset thinking about the looks on Ron and Harry's faces as she made them leave. The heartbroken looks and tears as Dobby grabbed their hands and apparated them to safety would stay with her forever.

"When they left, the Death Eaters were furious, so I was the default punching bag...literally. You can see most of the physical damage that they inflicted on me, but there was so much more."

This was where Hermione got nervous, "I refused to tell them anything, so it got worse every day. First it was simple, the carving of 'mudblood' in my arm, the scars and bruises and broken bones. Then it escalated into as many cruciatus curses as they could throw at me before I passed out. Then Greyback got involved and that is when I thought I was going to crack."

Hermione took a deep breath and realized that she was shaking, "He was constantly taunting me and one day, the woman who was "running" my interrogation told him that I was his to do with as he pleased. That was the first day he raped me."

She stopped and looked at Sirius to see how he would react, but his head was down and she could not see his face, so she continued.

"There was another one too, the one who captured me. His name was Scabior and he was obsessed with me. It was unnerving and he kept coming in with Greyback and after three days of them doing everything possible to break me, body and soul, I felt like they succeeded. I was giving up and I knew that I would tell them whatever they wanted before I would let them touch me again."

She felt Sirius squeeze her hand, "The next day, I was brought to a different room by some snatchers that I didn't recognize. One of them was taunting me, but not paying attention to his wand. I got close enough, when he was dragging me, to grab it from him and knock them both out. I just started running and running until I found a way out, but others came after me and I had to fight my way out. At this point I was losing blood and could feel my bones rubbing together, but I could see the door."

She closed her eyes and dropped her head, "When I hit the ground, I tried to apparate, but there were wards and I couldn't do it. I was firing off any spell that came to my mind and I cast a _reducto _blindly. It hit someone Sirius, and his or her blood was all over me. I just stopped and couldn't move anymore, I killed someone and I don't even know if it was a man or a woman or if they were a lackey or a devoted death eater. Then a spell hit me and I was beyond the wards and I apparated, but ended up here."

By the end of her story, there were tears streaming down Hermione's face. Sirius was still in the same spot; however, he was no longer holding her hands in his and instead had his head down with his face in his hands.

"So there you have it, I'm a scarred, broken, killer," Hermione grabbed her knees and brought them to her chest, resting her forehead on them.

"I completely understand if you want out, Sirius. I told you because I want you to know who I am before we go any further."

Sirius raised his head and just stared at her, "That's not who you _are_, Hermione. That is what you've been through."

Hermione 's head also rose and she looked at him in shock as he continued, "I know I can't say that it doesn't matter, because it is a giant part of your life and you'll never forget it, but just know that it doesn't matter to me."

Once again, he took her hands in his and they were face to face, "You think I don't want you because of what Greyback and that Scabior did, is that right?" At Hermione's nod, he shook his head, "I'm sorry that it happened and I hope that McGonagall knows, because you know that she'd be much better at helping you recover from it than I am."

"She knows," Hermione whispered quietly, "She's the one who convinced me to tell you. Poppy helped me as well when I arrived because she discovered what had happened when she did all of the exams on me."

"I just want you to know that this changes nothing between us, love. I still want to be with you and I will take it as slow as you want. You can stop wearing all of those glamours because they just prove that you are the strong woman that I love." He picked up her arm and gently kissed each letter carved there, which caused Hermione to smile through her tears.

"Sirius Black, what did I do to deserve you?" Hermione just looked at the man sitting in front of her in amazement.

After taking a deep breath, she felt a weight come off of her shoulders and, looking him in the eyes, she timidly asked once more, "are you sure it doesn't bother you, that _they_ don't bother you?" she gestured, once again, to her scarred body.

Sirius didn't even answer her and simply leaned in and kissed her forehead, then her cheeks and finally her lips.

"You know I'm never letting you get away now, right?" She laughed as he continued to gently trace some of the scars along her arm.

"Perfect." He replied, "because I have no intentions of leaving you, ever."

Sirius lay down on the couch and pulled Hermione in top of him where she rested her head on his chest.

She told him stories about the attacks that she had witnessed and some of her day to day life in the cell during her captivity.

She omitted names, such as Bellatrix, so he wouldn't get suspicious, but told him how the leader got special pleasure out of physically scarring her because mudblood's were filthy and the world deserved to know.

She could feel him tense at certain parts and knew he was upset about the things that had happened to her, but he did not patronize her by telling her that it was 'alright' and that 'things would get better'. He just provided the support of an ear for her to unload her story into.

As the night drew shorter, the stories became lighter and the couple became sleepier. They fell asleep by the dying fire just before the sun began to set.

This is where the other Gryffindors found them the next morning, but they were left to sleep in peace, until James Potter entered the room.

"Rise and shine lovebirds!" he shouted standing as close to the pair as he could get.

They jumped up and fell off of the couch, "Prongsie" Sirius whined when he saw who disturbed his slumber, "I was so comfy!"

He hauled Hermione off of the floor and back on top of him, where she immediately cuddled back into his chest, but remained awake.

Hermione just smiled as her friends came to sit around them, but her smile vanished when she noticed that Lily was looking at her arm in horror.

"Mione" Lily started slowly, "what is that?"

The boys looked to her arm and their smiled instantly vanished as well. The group became quiet and for the second time in 24 hours Hermione found herself explaining, in a much more condensed version, the origin of her scars.

"I've been wearing a glamour all year," she explained, "I hated looking at them myself and wanted to avoid all of the staring and questions."

Remus was the first to speak up, "You should know better than to think we'd care, Mione."

"Yeah, Mione!" James agreed, "You're still just Mione to us, with some battle scars."

Hermione smiled again and Sirius just nudged her shoulder playfully, "Told ya so," he laughed.

Lily just came closer and sat next to Hermione on the couch to look at her arm and Hermione knew what she was thinking.

Lily was a muggleborn too and this must be particularly hard for her to see.

"Don't worry, Lils," Hermione smiled, "We're going to make sure that he never hurts anyone again."

With that thought, the Marauders went to class for the day and Hermione finally felt like she could relax. People stared at her as she passed and she knew they were looking at her scars, but for once she didn't feel self-conscious.


	14. One Step Closer

Author's note: Tra-la-la I own nothing :)

* * *

Albus Dumbledore looked out of the window in his office and smiled at the young woman who had become very important to him and to the entire wizarding world. She was being chased by young Mr. Black and this made the twinkle in his eyes grow larger.

Both of these students had endured more than they should have at their age and Dumbledore was glad that they had found each other.

Sirius Black was too young to be exiled from his own family, but he knew that the Potters were more of a family to Sirius than his own had ever been. He had watched the little group of misfits get closer to each other and was thrilled that they had become such good friends. They were each others family, and Albus knew they needed each other badly.

He looked down at the blackened ring in his hand and clenched his fist around it. Finally he would be able to ensure the safety of the children at his school and that was more important to him than anything.

As he watched Sirius haul Hermione down to the ground next to the others in their little group he knew that he had to do everything in his power to protect this young woman. He did not want her to have to deal with any more tortures in her life and wanted to protect her above all else.

"Tippy", he called and a small house elf appeared in front of him.

He handed the elf a note, "Could you please make sure that Ms. Hermione Granger receives this note, Tippy?"

"Yes sirs, Mr Headmaster, sir." The little elf took the note, bowed and popped away.

* * *

Hermione and the marauders were eating supper in the Great Hall when a house elf popped in and handed her a letter.

With one look at the elegant scrawl on the envelope, she ripped it open excitedly.

_Dear Ms. Granger,_

_I thought it would interest you to know that the ring is no longer a problem. It is currently in my possession and will be taken care of shortly. I knew this information was important to you, thus I thought it best to inform you striaght away, and will be informing the other Order members at out next meeting. It may also interest you to know that a raid will be occurring later this week on the house that we discussed. Please rest a little easier tonight and know that our goal is closer than ever._

_Yours, _

_Albus Dumbledore._

Hermione beamed while reading the letter and though Sirius kept questioning her about what was in the note and who it was from, she ignored him and looked to the head table where Professor Dumbledore sat.

He acknowledged her huge smile with one of his own and a brief nod before going back to his conversation with Minerva.

"What is it Mione" Sirius's whining finally cut through the happiness that was fogging her brain.

"Oh," she replied, "It's from Dumbledore, about the thing that we discussed a while ago." At their blank looks she continued, "About who-know-who and the who-know-whats."

"Oh!" James exclaimed, "has he found another?"

"Yes!" Hermione happily grabbed a large slice of cake and dug in, "with another to possibly come soon!"

The group was ecstatic and began to question her further, but she wouldn't discuss it here in the Great Hall.

Just knowing that there were only two horcruxes left and that one may be found as soon as this week, made Hermione's head spin.

The year was almost over, but everything was on track. James and Lily were more in love than ever and now she knew why they got married so soon after graduation.

It seemed to be a trend among young couples lately. The looming war and numerous attacks were making people panic and many were getting married very young lately. She knew that James was only waiting until graduation to ask Lily because he thought that is what she wanted.

She knew that, providing she hadn't messed anything up, Harry would be born in two years, which meant that Lily and James would be married within this year. The thought of being in their wedding and holding Harry as a baby were what got Hermione through the awful times.

She would do anything to hold baby Harry and to see little Ron Weasley grow up with his brothers. She was asked to attend the next order meeting at the Weasley's house this weekend and was very excited at the thought of seeing her surrogate parents again, even if they didn't know her that well.

She had kept in contact with Molly, especially after the Hogsmeade incident. Molly had nearly come to Hogwarts herself after learning that Hermione was in the hospital wing again, but once Hermione had told her that she was only in for a night and she made a full recovery, Molly had backed down, but kept writing weekly.

Ron would be coming along in exactly two years and then Ginny shortly after. Thinking of seeing all of her friends as babies and watching them grow was rather frightening, but she knew that their lives would be so much better this time around.

* * *

"Ready to go, Hermione?" McGonagall asked as she came into the parlour of her rooms.

"Whenever you are. I can't wait to see everyone again!" Hermione was extremely excited to see everyone that she had met over the holidays.

So far she knew that at least one death had been prevented. Since Benjy Fenwick had been tracking down the Gaunt ring for Dumbledore, he was not in the small muggle village when it was attacked. The attack on this little village, in her time, lead to the capture and subsequent torture and death of Benjy, but now he was alive and happy and she would see him soon.

Upon stepping out the fireplace at the Burrow she was immediately assaulted by two excited red-heads.

"Hermy! Hermy!" the little Weasley's were chanting.

"Mom said you were coming, but she said I had to wait for 3 sleeps and they took forever!" Bill Weasley was talking a mile a minute, but Hermione was glued to every word.

"William Weasley, give Hermione a chance to breathe!" Molly came into the kitchen holding little Percy in her arms and smiling at Hermione.

"Hello dear," she came forward and, passing Percy off to Arthur, wrapped Hermione in a huge hug.

"So glad to have you back with us, you must promise to visit more often. The boys haven't stopped talking about you since Christmas. When they overheard Arthur and I talking about you being hurt, Bill tried to sneak off through the floo to visit you."

As Molly was talking, Bill had already climbed into Hermione's arms and was now comfortably sitting in her grasp and talking a mile a minute. Molly looked at him with a smile on her face and laughed, "He's developed quite a crush on you, Hermione. You'll have to tell that boyfriend of yours to watch out because he has competition

Bill's ears perked up at the word 'boyfriend' and he immediately pulled back from Hermione to look at her, "You have a boyfriend, Hermy?"

At his heartbroken voice, Hermione sadly smiled and kissed him on the cheek before explaining, "Yes, honey. His name is Sirius and he loves Quidditch just like you. I bet you two would be best friends. You'll get to meet him soon, I promise."

Bill jumped from her arms and crossed his, "I don't like him." That was all he responded before running off into another room.

The adults merely laughed and went into the kitchen to join the other Order members.

Hermione immediately noticed two people that she had not met before, the Potters.

Charles and Dorea Potter were a lovely older couple who were so clearly in love that it almost made the room a happier place. James was an exact younger version of his father, which must be a trait among the Potter boys as Harry was always told how much he looked like James.

"So this is the girl that my son never stops talking about!" Dorea was in front of Hermione as soon as she entered and had her pulled into a hug.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Potter. James is one of my very best friends. He has almost been like a brother to me since I arrived," Hermione replied.

"I've also heard that you've stolen our other son's heart" Charles cut in with a smirk.

Hermione felt her face heat up and she turned red, "Charles, leave the girl alone, you've made her blush," Dorea chastised with a laugh.

"Hello all!" Albus Dumbledore came through to the kitchen and everyone stopped socializing and began to take their seats around the table to start the meeting.

"Well as you all know, we have found another horcrux and now only have two left to find before we can finally face Tom and defeat him once and for all."

Everyone's faces became excited and people began whispering back and forth. Minerva patted the back of Hermione's hand as she saw her get excited as well.

"As I'm sure you have noticed, Alastor isn't here today and that is because he is currently with a group of aurors conducting a search on the Malfoy home. We believe that another horcrux is hidden there and hope to be in possession of it very soon."

Dumbledore's face became solemn as he continued, "It appears that Tom is becoming more desperate and bold with his attacks and another muggle village was destroyed last week. I am becoming concerned that he can feel these pieces of his soul being destroyed, so I have refrained from destroying the ring and when we obtain the last two pieces we will not destroy them until right before we attack."

"As you all know, our 7th years will be graduating in a few weeks and I am beginning to think that Tom will be planning an attack during our graduation ceremony. I would appreciate some of you joining me at the castle during the ceremony for extra security at this time."

Several members volunteered right away and Dumbledore continued, "I would like to add extra wards and would appreciate some escorts for the parents of the muggleborn students that are attending."

"I am expecting a report from Alastor sometime soon and will keep you all informed of how the raid went and how close we are to finding the final piece. For now, I would like to ask Gideon and Fabian to please follow me back to my office as I have an assignment that I would like you two to complete for me."

Everyone began talking amongst themselves and Dumbledore came to Hermione, "The correct date is approaching and I am so very thankful that you've supplied me with the information to save these men," he whispered into her ear.

Hermione's face lit up as she watched Gideon and Fabian rise, place kisses on their sister's cheeks, and follow Dumbledore out into the fireplace. _They're going to be alright. Fred and George will have two great uncles to get prank advice from._ She laughed a little to herself and went back to listening as Minerva was taking names for security at Graduation.

"Molly?" Hermione asked as she watched Percy being fed, "Could I ask you a favour?"

"Of course, dear. I've told you that Arthur and I will do anything for you."

"I was wondering if you would come to graduation as my guests. Minerva is going to be there of course, but she will be handing out the diplomas and be sitting with the rest of the professors. Listening to others talk about their parents coming has made me realize that I really want someone in that audience. I know that I'm not your daughter and that you barely know me, but all of our letters and the time that I've spent at your home has made me feel so at home and I love you both so much that it would mean a lot to me if you could be there."

Hermione spit all of this out very fast and barely took a breath during her little speech. She was trying to not get emotional, but with classmates talking of parents, she began to realize how much she missed her own and though Minerva has been the best guardian she could ever ask for, the Weasley's have always held a special place in her heart.

Molly Weasley began to tear up and grabbed Hermione into a breath-stealing hug, "Oh you foolish girl, of course we will be there! Arthur and I would be honoured to get to see you graduate and I'm sure Bill would love to see you again so soon." She responded with a wink.

"Those three days before you came here were filled with endless questions about where you were and when you were coming. I'm sure he'd be thrilled that he doesn't have to wait too long again."

Hermione watched Bill chase Nymphadora around the house and smiled, "Maybe I could introduce him to Sirius," she laughed.

Once everyone had gotten their assignments for graduation, the Order began to part ways.

"We'll see you soon darling," Arthur said as her hugged her goodbye.

"Make sure you study hard, Hermione. NEWTS are coming up and they're very important, but apparently you're top of the class, so I'm sure that you'll do fine."

With another round of hugs and congratulations being extended to Benjy for his work on finding the ring, Hermione and Minerva left.

* * *

Benjy was safe, Gideon and Fabian were on a mission that would keep them safe and they only had two pieces of Voldemort's soul left to find. Graduation was coming up soon and Hermione was excited to finally sit her NEWTS and officially join the Order.

In a few short months, she was hoping to be able to face Voldemort and destroy him before he could affect Harry's life. _Hopefully the diary and cup will be coming along soon and we can end this as soon as possible. _She was more confident in finding the diary than she was in finding the cup.

Breaking into Gringotts was nearly impossible the first time and they had had Bellatrix's wand and Griphook's help. This time, she was hoping Dumbledore could come up with some other way to get into the vault.

Moody had a very detailed description of the diary. Everything that she could remember about the diary, she had told him, and with his magical eye she was sure that he would find it.

Now that Dumbledore thought that Voldemort could feel the destruction of the pieces, he had told Moody to make a copy of the diary and place it back once he had the original. Hopefully, Malfoy would tell his master that the diary was still in place and he would not panic and cause more death and destruction before they could destroy him.

When she walked through the portrait hole and into the common room and saw her boyfriend immediately look up and smile at her, her heart lifted. She had a great life here now and, unfortunately, she just needed to play the waiting game and hope that the pieces would be found sooner than later.


	15. Leaving Hogwarts

Author's note: anyone read The Casual Vacancy? I'm reading it between assignments at the moment, but it's sooo good! Also..I own nothing :)

* * *

Sooner than later, did not happen.

NEWT exams had come and gone and Hermione was quite sure that she'd failed everything, though no one else believed her.

It was Graduation day and, though Moody had come thorough and the diary was now in Dumbledore's possession, the cup was no closer to being found.

The only lead that they had was the immense security that had been placed around the Lestrange vault. This also led them to believe that Voldemort was getting suspicious; however, having the ring and diary in safekeeping without him knowing was a stroke of luck.

Hermione knew that Nagini would be his next horcrux, but she was certain that he did not make her a horcrux until after his resurrection in her fourth year. She did advise Dumbledore about this and he assured her that the snake would be taken care of when they finally faced Tom. They would need to ensure that she was destroyed along with Voldemort when the time came, just to be safe.

For now, Hermione was trying to focus on Graduation and keeping herself calm enough to not get in an argument with Dumbledore over the Gringotts heist.

* * *

"Sirius Black!" McGonagall was standing at the head of the Great Hall alongside Dumbledore, calling out names while he was handing out diplomas.

Sirius, at first startled that McGonagall was calling his name and not reprimanding him, swaggered up to the front of the crowd and, after shaking hands with the Headmaster, turned and placed a kiss on McGonagall's cheek and ran off stage to cat calls and whoops from the crowd.

His Uncle Alfred was sitting next to the Potters and cheering him on loudly and he did a little bow from the sidelines.

Lily was next and then Hermione went to the front where she got a long hug from Minerva and shook hands with Dumbledore. Looking into the audience and seeing Molly and Arthur, along with Bill and Charlie cheering her on made her so excited. Seeing them sitting next to the Potter's, who were cheering just as loudly, made her understand just how much of a family she had here.

Fred and George had been born only a month ago and just knowing that the little troublemakers were being watched by their Uncles, assured Hermione that everything she was doing here was worth it.

Gideon and Fabian's death date had passed, and the future that she knew was now completely non-existent. She had saved three lives so far and as she watch Remus and James shake hands with Dumbledore and James rush to Lily's side and kiss her as he dipped her back in front of everyone, she knew that she would save at least two more.

Once all the diplomas were handed out, the Marauders final bang was set off and the entire hall was filled with red and gold confetti and banners fell down from the ceiling that read things like "We did it!" and "Congratulations!".

One, however, fell right the in middle of the Great Hall and was enormous. It had beautiful lettering that read, "Lily Evans, will you marry me?" and when that one fell, Lily's shriek of excitement caused the hall to fall almost completely silent.

Everyone turned to stare as James dropped to his knees and pulled out a box with a beautiful ring inside of it and asked the ultimate questions, "Will you marry me?"

Lily fell to her knees and crushed him into a kiss before saying "yes". Her parents and James's parents immediately found each other in the crowd and though they were a little concerned about their kids' age, they accepted each other and the proposal.

The Potters understood the quick engagement much better than the Evans' and because of the looming war, didn't even question their son's decision. The Potter's tried to explain the situation and the vast number of proposals that had occurred recently. Though the Evans' were not entirely ok with their daughter being engaged, she was of age now in the Wizarding World and the Potter's explained that age is taken less seriously here than in the muggle world.

They knew how much the two loved each other and now the only thing going through Charles Potter's mind was when Sirius would do the same to Hermione.

Hermione and Sirius were standing next to each other, holding hands and congratulating their fellow marauders.

"Congratulations dear," Hermione turned around to see Arthur and Molly behind her and immediately was engulfed in those comforting hugs that cured all your ills.

"Molly, Arthur, I'd like to introduce you to Sirius Black, my boyfriend," Another round of hugs, and what Hermione guessed were threats from Arthur on treating her well, were cut off by Bill Weasley kicking Sirius in the shin and running off into the crowd of people.

"William Weasley you come back here this instant and apologise!" Molly turned to chase him through the crowd.

"Come on Sirius, he's an 8 year old! That didn't hurt, you wimp," Sirius was holding his leg and whining while Remus and Hermione were laughing their heads off.

"Our son has developed quite an overprotective crush on Hermione, so I'm afraid you have some competition Mr. Black" Arthur laughed.

"How am I supposed to compete with a cute little kid? Please don't leave me, love!" Sirius grabbed onto Hermione and tried to pepper her face with kisses, causing their friends to laugh at the cute couple.

Lily and many other Muggleborns had taken their parents on a tour of the castle while many pure or half-bloods stayed in the Great Hall to discuss career options or internships with Professors.

There was a party in the Great Hall for the students that night and Hermione found herself being spun around the dance floor by her brothers and various people whom she didn't think she's ever see again.

_Now that we're graduating and moving on with our lives, we all want to act like best friends. _Slytherins were conversing with Gryffindors around the punch bowl and James Potter was seething in the corner as his fiancé danced with Severus Snape.

Hermione had noticed a change in the greasy-haired teen. Since the attack on Hogsmeade, Snape seemed to become more of a loner, but in a good way. He no longer hung around with the known Death Eaters and Hermione noticed that he and Lily seemed to be on better terms.

She had sat next to him on a few occasions in the library and talked with him about the fate that awaited him if he were to join the Death Eaters. She tried to never let on that she knew he was headed down that path, but was fairly certain that she had set some cogs turning in his mind.

Maybe if Severus never became a Death Eater the prophecy would never be told to Voldemort and he wouldn't go after Harry or Neville and the Order would have more time to find the missing pieces.

Maybe some other Death Eater would just take Severus's place and tell Voldemort anyway.

Maybe Voldemort would pick Neville this time as she couldn't remember any incidents where Lily and James defied Voldemort, except maybe during the Hogsmeade attack.

So many situations were running through her head and Sirius could tell, so he took her hand and dragged her onto the dance floor.

"You've gone away again, love." Sirius whispered into her ear as they danced, "This is a day for celebrating, just breathe and don't think on what happens next."

Hermione smiled up at him and kissed him as they swayed to the music.

* * *

Leaving Hogwarts was a heartbreaking experience and Hermione was immensely grateful to be able to come back and visit Minerva whenever she wanted.

Sirius, Remus, James and Lily had all joined the Order right away and the marauders decided to stick together and move into one of the many properties that Sirius had inherited from his Uncle Alfred.

Since Dumbledore refused to let Hermione be unguarded now that she had left the castle, the house was heavily warded and was under the Fidelius charm. With Minerva as secret keeper, Dumbledore felt that the group would be perfectly safe from any dangers.

"So Moony when shall we see the wonderful Ms. Arya again?" Hermione asked from her place on Sirius's lap.

"She's gone on vacation with her parents for a while before entering the healing program with St. Mugo's," Remus answered.

"She'll have to come over some night when she returns and we can all get together, I do miss her" Lily chimed in.

James and Lily had set a date for their wedding and were planning one for January 13th 1979. A winter wedding since their first official date was in the winter as well.

Hermione was to be Lily's maid of honour and was very excited to be helping her with all of her plans. She always remembered Harry telling her of how Petunia hated anything to do with magic, but Hermione could never really believe that a Petunia would not go to her own sister's wedding.

She remembered coming home one day and seeing Lily crying her eyes out on the couch, "What's wrong, Lils?" Hermione had immediately run to her side and sat next to her.

"Petunia won't even consider coming to the wedding!" she sobbed. "I asked her to be my maid of honour and she just looked at me like I had two heads and told me that she wouldn't even be coming let alone be standing for me."

Lily had cried on the couch for hours and Hermione knew that something this heartbreaking would not be easily forgotten. When James and Sirius had come home from Auror training that night, James had taken her to their room to calm her down.

The next day she asked Hermione if she would step up and take Petunia's place. Hermione was already asked to be a bridesmaid and was honoured to be asked to take Petunia's place, so she agreed immediately.

* * *

While the wedding talk and planning was fun, Hermione was getting anxious that there had been no leads on the cup.

Breaking into Gringotts would not be easy and the planning was taking much longer than she hoped it would. When she did it, there wasn't much planning and a lot of polyjuice involved. It was one of the scariest things she had ever done in her life, but they had succeeded and now she wanted to do it again.

Dumbledore would not allow any of his Order members to go in blindly and wanted to be sure that the cup was there before sending anyone on this dangerous mission.

Hermione was thinking differently and every time an Order meeting was held, she made her feelings known. No longer could she sit in silence and wait for a plan.

The other Order members knew of her deep involvement with Dumbledore on this project, so when the meeting was quickly ended, so that the two could have a private meeting, no one argued.

"Professor, we're wasting time. I know it's in that vault. Bellatrix is his right hand and he trusts her, well his version of trust, more than anyone else."

"I know that you are eager to see Tom gone, Hermione, but how would you feel if we burst in and someone got hurt?" Albus responded.

"I know that it's dangerous, but I've done it before and you've seen my memories. We _can_ do this professor and I'm volunteering to do it again. James has the invisibility cloak and if just one person goes in then we can avoid the need for disguises." Hermione wanted this war to end before it got out of hand and was fully prepared to risk her life again.

"I suppose that you would be volunteering for this mission, my dear?" At her nod Dumbledore continued, "No. I will not allow it, Hermione. The Goblins of Gringotts are very proud and if you are caught, nothing can keep you safe. If the traps in the vault don't get you, then the Dementors of Azkaban will and I will not be able to get you out of that place."

They argued into the night, and after promising each other to set a firm date and have a plan by James and Lily's wedding, they parted ways for the night.

Hermione arrived back home and crawled into bed alongside Sirius. He was already asleep, but unconsiously wrapped his arms around her and dragged her closer.

As she snuggled into his side, she found her mind wandering to the upcoming wedding. For the first time in a long time, she allowed herself ot think of her own future, which she hoped involved a ring and the man lying next to her.


	16. The Hard Times

Author's Note: Quick update, yay! No fluffiness here though...

The wonderful reviews and lots of alerts/faves made me write faster! Keep them coming!

* * *

Christmas came with no news of the Hufflepuff cup or how they could gain access to the Lestrange vault, but this lack of news was still better than the terrible news that did arrive.

Tragedy struck just before the holidays when Charles and Dorea Potter took ill with a case of Dragon Pox. Because they were an older couple, they could not fight the disease and died about a month before Christmas.

Hermione knew that Harry had no grandparents or relatives of any kind other than Petunia, but the thought of Charles and Dorea dying never crossed her mind. She knew now that she had to think more carefully about those around her.

She didn't know hoe the Evans' died, but she knew that they weren't alive in her time; therefore, Dumbledore needed to know.

James was inconsolable and had become very angry during the period after their deaths, but Lily was his rock.

The Potter's had loved Lily like a daughter and had spent so much time with them to plan the wedding. Lily kept advising James that though they would not be able to be there in person, they would be watching from above.

Since Dorea was insistent on having lilies at the ceremony; whereas, Charles thought that roses were more traditional, Lily kept reminding James that they would be watching so that the winner could boast about his or her superior decoration choice.

Keeping things light was always the way to cheer James up. Reminding him of happy times with his parents was the way to help James recover.

James and Sirius had spent the day of the funeral alone together, and that night Hermione just held Sirius as he cried himself to sleep.

Sirius was an emotional wreck, but Hermione stood by him through the tough times. She held him as he cried and wiped away his tears, just as he had done for her during all of her nightmares and flashbacks.

Sirius was trying to be the brave one around James, but the Potter's were, for all intents and purposes, his parents as well.

Hermione was devastated as well, but tried very hard to keep on a brave face for Sirius and James. She knew how it felt to lose your parents and did not wish that pain on anyone.

Comfort was all that she could offer. Saying that it would get better was not the way to go, but reminding her boys of all the advice and good times that Charles and Dorea brought to their lives helped them get through.

* * *

Hermione was grateful to be Lily's maid of honour because helping to plan the wedding kept her mind off of the horcruxes.

The next Order meeting turned into a wonderful celebration of the Potters. Many Order members were exchanging stories about the Dorea and Charles and trying to remind James that at least his parents had met his love and that they loved her as well.

Frank and Alice Longbottom became very good friends with the Marauders and the young couple became another fixture in the group. Gideon and Fabian got on famously with James and Sirius and Hermione cringed every time that the four of them would get together and whisper because she knew that they were cooking something up.

They had all been officially inducted into the Order of the Phoenix and on that day, a photo was taken of the group.

Hermione remembered looking at an old photo of the Order and Sirius telling Harry how Marlene McKinnion and her whole family was murdered a few days after it was taken.

Dumbledore was informed immediately and Marlene was put into a safe house the next day.

Remus and Arya had become quite serious now and, though Hermione loved the young Ravenclaw and was extremely happy for the pair, their relationship made her wonder where Arya was in her time.

Of all the times that Remus and Sirius had discussed their time at Hogwarts, they had never mentioned an Arya. Hermione had nothing to do with Arya and Remus getting together, so her appearance was a little confusing and made Hermione wonder what had happened to make them break up and if it had changed now.

For now, everyone was focusing on the wedding of Lily and James and, to Hermione, it seemed like Voldemort had taken a back seat. Attacks had been few and far between for the last few months, but she knew that that just meant that the Death Eaters were plotting, and that was not good.

* * *

Everyone knows that the bachelor and bachelorette party are essential parts to any wedding preparation and something to never be forgotten.

However, sometimes it can become something you truly wish that you could forget.

The boys headed off to a little pub on the outskirts of Diagon Alley and the girls went to another on the opposite end. The plan was to meet at the Leaky Cauldron once everyone was thoroughly plastered.

As the boys were loudly singing along to some karaoke, the floor began to shake. Being slightly drunk, they laughed it off until they heard the screams coming from outside of the pub.

When they got outside a cloud of smoke and debris was rapidly coming up the street and the sight was immediately sobering.

At the other end of the street, the girls were having a similar experience. As a wizard was just beginning his strip-tease routine for the bride, the floor started to shake and the people in the pub began to run outside.

The cloud of smoke and debris that met the men, started at the girls' end of the street as a Death Eater blew up a nearby building.

_Not here, not now_. Hermione thought. _We shouldn't have gone out. I knew it. Dumbledore is going to be furious at us._

The girls were all a little tipsy, but grabbed their wands and ran out into the street. They knew that the guys were on the other end and began running as fast as they could towards the other pub.

The guys had the same idea and were battling their way to where they were supposed to meet the girls. Sirius, James and Remus had one thing on their minds and that was making sure that their girls were alright.

With their haziness from the alcohol, most of the party goers were focusing on finding their significant others and friends and their reflexes were a little off.

As they got closer, Sirius saw the girls taking on a group of Death Eaters up ahead.

"Hermione!" he screamed, and he ran toward her as fast as he could. They had no time to embrace or make sure that the other was ok; they simply stood back to back and began to fight.

James ran towards Lily, but as he was running, a Death Eater took advantage and knocked him backwards into a building.

There were way too many Death Eaters and not enough people willing to fight them, which lead to very mismatched fight.

Frank reached Alice and pushed her out of the way of a stray stunning spell.

Lily ran to James to make sure he was alright after hitting the wall.

Remus could not see Arya.

He ran through the street screaming her name and as he saw all of the other girls, he knew something was wrong.

That's when he found her and his instincts were proven right.

In a pile of rubble that was once the interior of another pub, he saw a shoe that looked painfully familiar. He ran to the pile and began frantically shifting rocks until he saw a bloodied foot.

"ARYA! Arya can you hear me?" Remus was screaming and ignoring the tears streaking down his face and the battle around him.

He shifted rocks for what seemed like a lifetime, but then he saw her.

Lying still, surrounded by rubble was the lifeless body of Arya. A large gash on her head revealed her downfall and for a moment, Remus was stuck dumb.

The air pushed out of his lungs and the flow of tears was uncontrollable. He grasped her body and dragged her into his lap where he sat rocking her and crying into her hair.

He ignored his friends and the battle raging around them and simply held his love for as long as he could.

The battle did not last long and by the time Remus had found Arya, most of the Death Eaters had left, so his friends were able to witness his collapse.

Hermione held Sirius back as he tried to run to Remus and told him to give them some time.

A sobbing Lily was helping a limping James move closer to the two, but they stopped near Hermione and Sirius as well.

As they watched their brother break down, a distressed Marlene came up to Hermione, "She saved me" Marlene whispered.

"I was next to the building and I wasn't paying attention, so she came up and shoved me out of the way right before someone blew it up." Marlene was sobbing as she told the group what had happened.

Alice came forward and patted her on the back, "She was trying to help a friend. Please don't blame yourself Marlene. The battle was chaotic and people were running everywhere, so obviously you couldn't look everywhere all the time."

Hermione turned to hug Marlene and finally let Sirius run to Remus. When Sirius reached Remus, he gently placed his hand on Remus' shoulder and Remus deflected to Sirius. Sirius held his best friend to his chest and Remus could barely breathe as he sobbed into his friend's chest.

Aurors and officials from St. Mungo's arrived and began trying to clear up the mess that was Diagon Alley. Someone came to take Arya to St. Mugo's and Hermione cringed and wiped away her tears as Remus began howling in agony while Sirius held him back.

As Arya's body was taken away, Hermione couldn't help but think that this was why she had never heard of Arya in her time.

Discussing someone who has passed away is hard, and when it was the love of your life that accepted you and stuck by you, it is even harder.

Remus had been extremely nervous to tell Arya of his Lycanthropy, so when she fully accepted him for who he is, everyone could see a change in Remus. He was happier and more open with everyone and now the girl in his life that fully trusted him, and showed him that his friends were not the only people who loved him for whom he is, is dead. Remus was going to need a lot of recovery time.

In her time, Remus and Sirius never really talked about their times at Hogwarts. Sirius would tell stories about how all of the ladies loved him and how he had a long string of girlfriends, but mainly they liked to tell Harry about his parents.

Remus always kept quiet when Sirius would talk about girls and now Hermione knew why. He had the love of his life and lost her, and that is not a story that is easy to tell.

* * *

Another funeral in such a short period of time left the Order shaken. Dumbledore had been furious and reminded Hermione that leaving the safety of the Order was forbidden.

The wedding was put off for a few months because Lily was incredibly shaken at the loss of her close friend and bridesmaid, and just out of respect for Remus, who was certainly not ready for a joyful celebration.

It was now Remus' turn to be a recluse and he spent a lot of time by himself, but Hermione did not want that.

She stayed with Remus as much as she could and tried to help him through this. "You know we love you Remus. None of us are going to leave you, you're my brother Moony."

Hermione pulled him into a hug as Sirius walked into the kitchen, "We're all staying together and we all miss Arya, but I know you're strong."

Sirius came and clapped Remus on the back and squeezed his shoulder, "She's right mate, and don't you even think about taking off on us or shutting yourself away."

Though it was hard, Remus slowly recovered with the help of the Marauders.

He tried to stick to himself and he kept thinking that he was intruding on the happy couples. He told Hermione that he was thinking of getting a little flat by himself in Hogsmeade, but after a serious intervention and reassurance that they didn't want him to go anywhere, he was persuaded to stay.

Everyone in their group had lost someone, either directly or indirectly related to them and they only survived with the help of each other.

They were a family and Hermione knew that if she had arrived in another time or had not gotten close to these people, she wouldn't survive the coming fight, but now she felt as strong as she did when fighting the mountain troll first year or fighting in the Department of Mysteries.

She drew on the strength of her friends and they needed each other to survive. She knew now why Sirius and Remus were so close once they were reuinted in her time. They truly were brothers and as she watched Sirius try to cheer Remus up she knew that everything would be alright.

They'd get through this.

They had to.


	17. Marriage and Planning

Author's note: loved the reactions to my last chapter! I promise a warning next time there's a character death haha No deaths here!

Quick update because of the wonderful feedback; thank you so much for the reviews/faves/alerts! :)

* * *

The last few months had been incredibly hard on the Order and especially on the Marauders.

After the incident in Diagon Alley, it became apparent that Voldemort was becoming cocky and was now attacking just to shake things up.

This meant that Dumbledore was even more hesitant to let anyone risk themselves on the Gringotts mission. He and Hermione had a heated argument about getting in there right away, but Hermione was shut down and couldn't continue to argue after he brought up the parties in Diagon Alley where they went without permission or protection.

Dumbledore was fiercely protective of his students and, though they were technically adults now and full members of the Order, he still treated them as such.

"I will have no more tragedies fall on this group" he announced to Hermione, "I know how important this task is, do not think otherwise. However, I think it wise that we wait at least until after the wedding to finally get into the vault."

Hermione could not argue. If they lost someone else so soon, she didn't think anyone would recover.

Scouts were still finding out anything they possibly could about Gringotts and the vault in question, but the action would not occur until safety could be assured and Hermione was getting anxious.

* * *

James Potter was a nervous wreck.

"What if she decides that she doesn't want to get married Pads?" James was nervously fixing his bowtie over and over and coming up with every possible scenario for how this day could go wrong.

"Listen Prongs, that girl loves you and there is no way that she would back out now. Besides, Mione's in there with her and she definitely won't let Lils back out." Sirius tried to be reassuring as Remus was trying to re-tie the bowtie that James had managed to accidently take off with all of his fidgeting.

Lily was the calm one and was happily taking pictures with her bridesmaids and parents when Minerva knocked on the door and poked her head inside, "It's time dear."

With an excited squeal and a final hair check, the girls walked outside of the castle and down to the grounds of Hogwarts.

Since the wedding had been postponed, all of the students were now out of Hogwarts for the summer and Lily and James decided to hold the ceremony on the grounds near the giant tree where they had spent so much time.

The weather had co-operated and the summer sun was shining down over the grounds. The lake was glistening and the giant squid was even popping up to see the festivities.

James' smile could have repelled a Boggart as he saw Lily walking towards him. The ceremony was sweet and simple and Hermione found herself tearing up.

"You may kiss the bride" and James grabbed Lily around the waist and pulled her into him for a kiss. He then dipped her back while his groomsmen cat-called and cheered him on.

He picked her up and carried her back up to the castle and into the Great Hall with their bridal party following close behind.

The ceremony was lively and fun and everyone in attendance had a fantastic time. Everyone spent the night drinking, dancing and sharing happy stories and for once, Hermione felt perfectly happy and pushed the horcruxes to the back of her mind.

Sirius was dancing with Lily, but his eyes barely left Hermione, who was with another man that he didn't recognize, "So Sirius, when are you going to make an honest woman for Hermione, huh?"

Sirius's attention snapped back to Lily who laughed at his expression, "Well, I-uh, I want to and hopefully I will soon."

Lily looked shocked, she was not actually expecting him to have an answer.

"I love her and I know that she is still insecure, but I will marry her. She'd say yes right Lils?" He questioned timidly.

Lily took a quick glance at Hermione and then looked Sirius in the eye, "Of course she would."

"Hands off my wife, mate," James came up and play-pushed Sirius away from Lily, who laughed at her husband's antics.

"That's fine, I've got my own girl to cut in on," he gave Lily as kiss on the back of her hand and slapped James on the shoulder on his way towards Hermione.

His attention was distracted when he saw Remus dancing with his little cousin, Nymphadora. They looked adorable as she danced on his feet and Sirius could tell that this was turning into another Bill and Hermione situation.

Hermione was also drawn to the cute scene and she found herself becoming extremely happy at the sight. It obviously meant nothing right now, but Hermione knew that if these two got together in her time, it was quite reasonable for them to become a fantastic couple later in life.

She was so excited that they had found each other again and it sort of works out because Remus was still quite heartbroken and would not be dating for a very long time.

This also explained why Remus was so tentative to date Tonks in her time. The time that it took him to work up the courage to tell Arya and how amazed he was when she didn't care, showed his insecurities.

_I guess my presence didn't affect Remus's life at all, at least, I hope it doesn't stop him from loving Tonks._

Seeing Remus smiling and laughing at the little girls' antics was heartwarming. The full moons had been tough since Arya's passing, as if the wolf was missing her as well and wanted to take revenge on everything.

With the help of his fellow Marauders, he was coming around, but Hermione knew that if she had lost Sirius that night, it would take a lifetime to recover.

Sirius finally reached Hermione and whisked her away from the random Potter relative that she was currently dancing with.

"May I have this dance, finally?" Sirius asked as he pulled her into a hug.

"Of course," They came together and began twirling slowly around the room.

"Do you ever think about your own wedding?" Sirius blurted out.

"Uh—well I think every girl has. I used to think about it a lot, especially during my first crush, but then I got to a point where I didn't think I'd live long enough to be married." She placed her head on Sirius's shoulder, "I still don't know if I will, but I'd love to have a beautiful wedding right here at Hogwarts, or at the Burrow."

"You're going to get it, love" Sirius said, as he hugged her tight, "I meant it when I said that I would never let you go."

The dancing and drinking went on until the early hours of the morning when the newlyweds left and everyone else began leaving as well.

* * *

"You are sure nothing has been removed from your home Abraxas?" Voldemort looked at his followers in suspicion.

_That pathetic little girl knows something._ He feared that his secret had been discovered, yet everything seemed to be in order.

He had personally checked on the locket and could plainly see it beneath the dangerous liquid within the cave.

Abraxas assured him that the old diary was still within his library, even after the Ministry raid. He had taken a tour of the man's mind to make sure the truth was being spoken.

The cup was safely in Gringotts and no one could get past those goblins, as much as he despised them, those creatures were ruthless and would protect everything within that bank.

The diadem would be lost forever and he had no reason whatsoever to believe that it was in danger. The Room of Requirement would only be available to a select number of students and even if they did enter the room no one would be aware of the hidden room where he had hidden the horcrux.

The ring was the only horcrux that he could not locate and this made him nervous. One horcrux down was not enough to worry him immensely; yet, he felt weak.

Something felt off and even the reassurance of the safety of his plan, could not stop him from taking his anger out on his followers.

"Crucio!" he screamed at Abraxas.

When Voldemort felt weak, he did not let anyone know. They would attack more villages and destroy as many muggle towns as they could.

Bellatrix was always up for a little torture and he knew that she would do whatever he asked of her.

Though he was sure most of his horcruxes were safe, no Death Eater left that meeting unscathed.

* * *

James and Lily were away for a couple months on their honeymoon and during this time the Order was working overtime.

Hermione was getting frustrated and could no longer be in the same room with Dumbledore because of his lack of information about Gringotts.

It had been far too long since anyone had brought up the cup for Hermione's liking and her sleepless night were returning.

She would go to bed and wait until Sirius had fallen asleep before leaving the room and going to the library to be with her thoughts. _I'm going to do it myself, _she decided. _It will be easier for one person to get into Gringotts and into that vault. I know what I'm looking for and I can't play the waiting game any longer._

James and Lily would be back soon and in a few short months, she knew that they would make an announcement concerning her best friend. She wanted Voldemort to be gone before Harry was born, but at the rate Dumbledore was going she knew this would not happen.

James and Lily were not killed until Harry was just over a year old, so she still had a lot of time, but getting the cup would not kill him. They still had to destroy the pieces and take down Voldemort himself, not to mention his followers.

The horcruxes were just one part and Hermione knew that her time limit would be stretched if this cup wasn't found soon.

Her mind was set and that cup would be in her hands before Voldemort could get any more suspicious and remove it from the vault. She figured that he would have moved the cup by now, since he knew that the Order was aware of the horcruxes. Other than Hogwarts, Gringotts was the safest place on earth, so she suspected that Voldemort thought that he didn't have anything to fear.

He should be more concerned.

Once Hermione Granger put her mind to something, it was done and this cup was priority.

She had been a stickler for the rules for too long and she refused to listen to Dumbledore any longer. He wasn't moving fast enough for her and people were dying in scattered attacks around the country.

She could stop it.

And that was the thought that was keeping her awake night after night. She had saved a lot of lives, but now others were dying and ever since Arya's death the fear of losing someone close had grown.

Sirius Black had become her world and the thought of losing him, well, she couldn't even think of it at all.

Once they moved in together, she feared that he would want to move faster, intimacy wise. Once again, Sirius surprised her and though they shared a bed, they did nothing else.

When she first arrived here, she thought that she would die defeating Voldemort and she was fine with that. She never expected to fall in love and perhaps even be married someday and help raise Harry, perhaps alongside her own little troublemakers.

Now all she wanted was to keep her friends safe and keep herself safe so that she could become Mrs. Black and live in a peaceful Wizarding World, free from the threat of Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

So for the next few weeks Hermione would pretend to sleep, then sneak downstairs and devise her plan of action. She would get the cup as soon as possible, but was determined to come out of the mission alive.

Then again, Dumbledore would kill her for risking her life once she returned, if Sirius didn't get to her first.


	18. Fights, Proposals and Plans

Author's note: It's hectic midterm time for me and this semester is very heavy on readings, so don't kill me if I don't update for about a week. I will try very hard to get it done faster, but it depends on how my paper writing goes...oh the woes of a University student! haha

Thanks for all the reviews/alerts and faves, they keep me going...and will perhaps get the next chapter up sooner ;)

* * *

The library was quiet and dark as Hermione sat by herself at 3am. The snow was lightly falling outside the window and the only source of light was from the fireplace that she had lit to read by.

_Invisibility cloak, check._

She had gone into James' room while he and Lily were away and found it among his school things. He hadn't noticed it missing because now that they weren't at Hogwarts, it was barely used.

She knew that he would have given it freely, but then he would know where she was going. If James knew, he wouldn't let her go alone and then Sirius would know and there was no way she'd be able to go through with this if Sirius knew.

_Polyjuice, almost check._

The potion only needed one more week to be complete and all Hermione needed was a hair of Bellatrix or Rodolphus Lestrange.

This should be the hardest part, but the attacks on muggle villages were becoming quite frequent and the Lestranges were at every single attack.

Hermione knew that facing Bellatrix would be painful and she had been forcing herself to remember Bellatrix and everything that she had done, so that when the time came, she could face her fear.

All she had to do was get Bellatrix on the ground or close enough to grab her hair. _She's so crazy and frazzled; there will probably be a dozen hairs flying all over the place anyway._

She had planned this all before, back in her own time. When she was captured, she was sometimes left alone in her cell and would plan out how to get into the vault. Bellatrix had been so adamant about the importance of the vault that Hermione knew there was something hidden within. She hoped that Harry and Ron caught on and she tried, though as beaten and dazed as she was she didn't know if they understood, to send them a signal.

So as she sat in her cell, Hermione devised plan after plan and hoped that she could find her boys once she got out. She gave Dumbledore her memories, as she could not remember them fully after the ordeal, and he had told her that they would be useful in finding the cup.

So far, he had done nothing, so she had taken it upon herself to get this cup as soon as possible.

"How long have you been doing this?" Hermione jumped out of her skin and turned, wand raised to see Sirius standing in the doorway.

He immediately realized his mistake and came towards her; hands raised and outstretched, "Sorry, love. I didn't mean to startle you."

"I'm fine, it's fine," she tried to reassure him, but her mind had been on Bellatrix and it was going to take her a little while to get her heart rate back down.

"So, how long have you been staying up?" Sirius pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head, while also trying to get a glimpse at the papers she had scattered across the table.

"For a while," she admitted, "I didn't want to worry you, so I just left after you fell asleep. I'm sorry Snuffles, I just couldn't sleep knowing that there is research to be done."

Sirius laughed at the weird nickname that she had given him, "Are you still helping Dumbledore with the cup? Lily said that she would help you with that and I'm sure you two would be able to hatch an amazing plan together."

Hermione hid the majority of the papers detailing her plan as Sirius got up to stoke the fire.

"They'll be back from the Evans' tomorrow and will meet us at the Burrow for supper, so you should ask her then. I hate that you're losing sleep over this, love."

Hermione smiled tiredly as Sirius sat down next to her and she found herself succumbing to his open arms. Anytime her nightmares plagued her or she was simply too restless to sleep, Sirius was always there to help her quickly nod off.

He lay down on the couch and she curled in next to him, leading to her first night of proper sleep for a long time.

* * *

Molly Weasley was the designated mother of the entire Order and no one complained about it. She wanted everyone to get along and wanted to see everyone as much as possible.

At least three times a month she would demand a get together with whoever could make it, so everyone was, once again, gathered around the table eating Molly Weasley's mouth watering food.

"I'm a Gryffindor, Hermione! Just like you were right?" Bill was home from Hogwarts for a little while and had not stopped talking about it since they had arrived.

Sirius had lost his seat next to Hermione and was receiving a dirty look throughout the entire meal from the little boy who had taken her attention.

"...Then Mommy went to the healer and he told her that I'm getting another baby!" Bill was saying excitedly.

"I've heard" Hermione responded, "Do you want another little brother or are you hoping for a sister this time?"

"It's gonna be a girl this time, I know it!" Bill was very certain that he would be getting a little sister, but Hermione knew better.

"I'll be at Hogwarts when the baby is born though, so I'll have to come home and see her, but then I get to spend the whole summer with the baby."

She noticed James and Lily talking in hushed tones at the other end of the table and was hoping she knew what the topic was. Her thoughts were confirmed as James stood and tapped his spoon on his glass.

"Could I get your attention please? Since all of our closest friends are here this evening, Lily and I would like to make an announcement." Lily stood as well and took his hand, "We're pregnant!"

A large round of applause and a chorus of congratulations filled the dining room and Hermione immediately got up to hug Lily.

"I'm so happy for you! I just know you're going to have a beautiful little boy" she said to the now beaming Lily.

"We've decided not to wait because we're both too excited, so we'll know in a month or so what the sex is." She unconsciously placed her hands on her stomach, "I don't care what it is, as long as it's healthy."

James was surrounded by the other men in the room and Frank Longbottom was passing around the firewhiskey, as he too had just found out he would be a father.

Lily, Molly and Alice, all pregnant at the same time. After so much heartbreak this past year, the good news was most welcome.

Hermione was helping Molly clear away some of the dishes when the baby began to kick, "Come here dear," Molly placed Hermione's hand on her stomach and Hermione felt the strong kicks of little Ron.

The tears began to well in her eyes as she realised that in about four months her best friend would be born again.

She leaned down so her face was near Molly's stomach, "Hello there little one. You be easy on your mom alright."

The kicking calmed down and Hermione rose, but didn't realize how much she was now crying.

"What's wrong darling?" Molly pulled her into a hug.

"Nothing at all." Hermione assured her, "It's just so amazing to think that he or she will soon be here."

"You'll experience it all one day," Molly placed an arm around her shoulder and smiled as Sirius and Remus began to tease James and Frank about nappies and never sleeping again.

"That boy looks at you like you're the only thing in the world and I don't expect him to let you go." Hermione smiled at Molly.

"I hope he doesn't. I think I would love to have a family with him one day. He really is amazing."

For the rest of the night the Order members tried to relax and enjoy the good news for once. They did not want to think about the friends that they had lost or the impossible mission that was before them.

Hermione did not want to let anyone know that she was now ready to perform this task herself. Though she trusted Dumbledore, she could not wait any longer. Harry was on his way and she would not have him lose his parents this time around.

There was singing and drinking going around the Burrow and everyone was in good spirits until a ghostly image of a phoenix lit up the living room, "Another attack in the muggle village of Oxford. Whoever is available, get there as quickly as possible."

Hermione sprang from her seat as did many others and as a group they apparated to Oxford and into a full fight.

There were only five Death Eaters present, but Hermione knew the cackle echoing through the streets like it was her own.

Bellatrix Lestrange was acting mad as she blew up houses and cursed muggles left and right and Hermione couldn't stand to look a minute longer.

"Expelliarmus!" she shouted, and Bellatrix was caught completely off guard. No one dared to challenge her, so she did not expect a direct attack.

Hermione ran at Bellatrix while she was distracted, but Bellatrix wasn't Voldemort's right hand for nothing. She sent a cruciatus at Hermione as soon as she was within range and the fierce battle between the two women began.

"I've heard all about you little girl, but you don't seem so special to me. You're just another little Mudblood that needs to be taken care of." Bellatrix was taunting Hermione as they were throwing spells at break-neck speed.

"I was strong enough to take on your master and survive," Hermione retorted.

Each woman had been hit and it seemed that they were quite evenly matched. Hermione knew that Bellatrix was strong, but she had been preparing for this moment for a long time and would not let her escape.

"Who gave you that pretty carving, hmm?" That's when Hermione realized that in her haste to apparate she had forgotten her jacket. The Order was now familiar with her numerous scars and Sirius had kept the questions from overwhelming her when someone would ask, so she rarely worse her galmours anymore.

The rough carving of 'mudblood' was clearly visible under the bright streetlight where they dueled and Hermione felt herself caving as her torturer brought it up again.

There were more Order members than Death Eaters, so the attack was taken care of quickly. The two women kept dueling and ignored the people around them, but Sirius saw his crazy cousin and ran towards the two women.

He could see that Hermione was losing and could hear bits of their conversation as he approached, "beautiful work," "want to give them a trophy," "no more than a filthy mudblood deserves."

"Petrificus totalus!" He screamed, and Bellatrix fell to the ground, arms and legs snapped to her sides.

Hermione just stood and stared at the fallen woman that had haunted her dreams for so long. She took great gulps of air as she tried to reassure herself that Bellatrix could not touch her again.

Then she walked up to Bellatrix and bent down to her ear, "I will never let you hurt another person. Enjoy Azkaban."

She made sure to inconspicuously snatch a few hairs as she rose. Alastor Moody came to retrieve Bellatrix and carry her to the Ministry where she would be tried and sent to Azkaban, _and not get the chance to hurt Frank or Alice,_ Hermione thought happily.

She turned and jumped into Sirius' arms where he started to apologize, "I know you're probably mad that I stepped in, but I know her, love, and she is as crazy as crazy gets. I saw her near you and just reacted."

"Sirius, Sirius relax," Hermione laughed, "I have never been so happy that you love to be the overprotective boyfriend. To be honest, she terrified me."

The couple just continued to stand together as they waited for the others to join them.

Once James and Remus reached them, the group headed back to the Burrow. All of the Order members had headed to their homes once the Death Eaters that they had managed to capture had been taken to the Ministry.

"James!" Lily screamed at ran at James the moment she saw him return to the house. They had made a pact that she would still be an active Order member in research, but no more facing Death Eaters, not when their baby was at risk.

"Is everyone alright? How many were there? Did they capture..." her questions were cut off by James.

"Calm down Lils! Everyone's fine and we even managed to capture a few high ranking Death Eaters. It was a big win for us."

With a large sigh of relief, Lily went back to kissing her husband.

* * *

Later that night Hermione and Sirius were lying together in bed, but neither could sleep.

"Sirius, do you think we can actually defeat him?" Hermione broke the silence.

"Yes" he responded without any hesitation.

Hermione lifted her head from his chest, "What makes you so sure. We haven't made a move in months. The last horcrux is just sitting there and we know exactly where it is, yet we've done nothing!"

"Did you see Remus after Arya was killed? That is why we haven't done anything for a while, love." Sirius tried to calm her down.

"Everyone knows that you would go into that bank in a second, but they also know that if you didn't come back, I wouldn't survive. We all want it to end, but no one wants to lose someone else, Hermione."

"But Sirius, more people are dying every day and. . ."

"I know and we will avenge them Hermione. Remus barely sleeps anymore because he is so determined to find a foolproof way into that bank, so he can kill Voldie once and for all and finally feel like Arya didn't die for nothing."

He pulled her close and kissed her forehead, "If I was him, I don't think I'd be able to face the world again, Hermione. I don't know if you know this, but you've completely changed me and for the better. I was a pretty big flirt before you came along, but now If I look at another woman. . ." she gave him a stern look, "which I _never_ do, all I can think about is how she's not nearly as good as you."

Sirius sat up and clasped her hand in his, "I've been trying to think of the perfect time and place for this and my original plan was fancy restaurant, but that's not us. We've spent more time just sitting together and talking than we have spent in fancy restaurants and I know you're not one for public events. I think that this is us, sitting together, talking and just loving each other, so I can't think of a better time."

He got off of the bed and, with her hand still in his, knelt on the floor by the bed, "Hermione Granger, will you –"

"Yes" she cut him off.

"Come on love, I only get to do this once. Let me do it right." He laughed.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" she shouted and wrapped her arms around his neck, sliding off of the bed and falling into his lap on the floor.

He reached under his pillow and pulled out a box with a beautiful ring inside, "I've been carrying this around with me since James' wedding, just waiting for the perfect time. I hope it was perfect."

"I have to admit Sirius Black, that I never thought I'd be here with you, but now I can't imagine myself anywhere else." They crawled back into bed and curled into each other's arms again.

"I asked McGonnagall for permission at James' wedding and then went to Arthur Weasley as well. I know they're very important to you and as much as I hate them, my family taught me to be traditional. Well, since the proposal wasn't I figured that I should tell you that I at least did something right." Sirius laughed.

"It was perfect, Sirius. You were right, this is so much more special to me than a fancy restaurant could ever be," she leaned into him for a kiss and they curled back together.

"I have to tell everyone!" she suddenly shouted and sat up.

"It's midnight, love. I don't think they'd appreciate a visit right now. We'll tell everyone first thing in the morning alright?"

She nodded with a laugh and fell back to the bed.

* * *

_I can't leave him_.

Sirius had fallen asleep and she was having an internal debate. _The polyjuice is ready and I have the cloak, I can do this easily._ She wanted to do this more than anything, but the man lying next to her, _my fiancé,_ would never forgive me for going alone.

_He loves you, he'll understand. _

_Don't tell him, just get the cup and give it Dumbledore._

_What if I don't get out?_

_What if Voldemort gets me?_

Even though she had been the happiest person in the world not an hour ago, she still fell asleep with thoughts of what would happen.

_I have to do it. Not for me, for Harry._

Harry's face came to her mind and she was decided. She had ensured Neville's safety by getting Bellatrix locked away and now she needed to do this for her best friend and brother. Harry was her priority and she had planned this mission for so long she was sure nothing would go wrong.

She felt unstoppable with that ring on her finger and her heart bursting with love for the man beside her

She kissed Sirius on the forehead and climbed out of bed.

She was ready and nothing was going to get in her way.

_Time to finish this. _


	19. I love Portkeys

Author's note: Surprise, fast update! School got stressful, so I took a writing break, plus all of your reviews and a bunch of new favourites/alerts made me really happy and I felt the need to update soon!

Thank you all so much, and I hope you enjoy :)

* * *

Hermione knew that sneaking out in the middle of the night was not the best thing to do right after your boyfriend proposes to you, but once Hermione Granger makes up her mind, there is little that can stop her.

Hermione had planned to break in when the bank was closed, but had not planned to do it at one in the morning.

She had never felt more alive than she did right now and she knew that it was now or never. She now had everything to live for and would not allow herself to fail at this mission.

She realized that now she wouldn't need the polyjuice potion. Since the bank was closed, she wouldn't need to impersonate Bellatrix and she could just use the invisibility cloak. No wards could detect the cloak and the thief's downfall would not remove the cloak, like it would have with the polyjuice.

Now that Bellatrix was captured, the polyjuice was kind of useless anyway. _Way to think ahead, Granger, _she teased herself.

She simply waited near the door for the guards to change, and slipped in past them. The heightened security ended up working to her advantage because the guards were on duty all day and night and needed to change shifts.

The adrenaline in her system was pumping as she saw a goblin sitting behind one of the desks. He held a notebook that looked to have lists of inventory on it and with a quick, "imperio" the goblin followed her to the track that lead to the vaults.

_I can do this. This is going great. Thank you Harry for making Ron and I learn the unforgivables._ The late night decision was working in her favour as the bank was deserted.

Right now it looked as if a goblin was simply going down to inspect some of the vaults. The cloak was the key, had she not taken it, this would be impossible.

_Had Dumbledore tried to get more than one person in, this would have been impossible. One person is the only way to ensure the least suspicion._

When they reached the vault, she saw the guards standing outside. They were Death Eaters, that was certain, but she was invisible and the goblin was doing whatever she commanded.

"Mr. Lestrange wanted to ensure that the Ministry had not taken any of his wife's possessions when she was, _unjustly_ taken." Hermione made the goblin say.

The guards looked extremely cautious, but the goblin continued, "We assured him that no one was to enter the vault and that the Ministry has no power here, but he wanted the list to make certain for himself."

This seemed to pacify the guards as they were aware of Rodolphus' hatred of these creatures and these guards knew better than to argue with one of the Gringotts' goblins. These goblins had not taken well to having death eaters in their bank every night and were extremely touchy when it came to the demands of theses _visitors_ in their bank.

The men moved aside and allowed the goblin to enter and Hermione to slide in next to him. He stood in his trance-state as Hermione looked around the room.

The vault was so full that there were objects stacked up to the ceiling. It took her a while to locate the cup, which rested on top of one of those stacks and as she began her climb, some of the pieces of gold began to multiply.

_A gemino curse, _she thought. She grabbed a sceptre from the pile of treasure next to her and hooked the handle of the cup with it.

By using the sceptre, she was able to avoid touching anymore of the piles in the room, so she was not crushed.

The badger engraving on the cup sent a shiver of excitement through her, _This is it, I have it._

She took the notebook from the little goblin and began checking things off on the inventory sheet, so the visit would not look suspicious.

When he touched the door and the locks retracted, the guards immediately pointed their wands at the goblin and for an instant, Hermione's heart sank.

"Well, goblin," one of them spat, "Are all of Mrs. Lestrange's things in order or did one of your lot lose something of importance?"

Hermione made the goblin show them the sheet, "The Ministry was not authorized to view this vault under any circumstances and now that Mrs. Lestrange has been...detained, there is no admittance to anyone other than Mr. Lestrange. Therefore, no objects have been removed from the vault."

"Well it looks like you lot have managed to do something right, get back to work goblin." The guards shuffled the goblin away and Hermione followed close behind.

When she reached the foyer of the bank, she was instantly afraid of releasing the goblin from the spell. She waited for about fifteen minutes for the death eater guards on the front door to change and slipped out, releasing the spell as she slipped through the doors.

Goblins are much smarter than people believe and as soon as the imperius was lifted, he triggered the alarm and the building went into lockdown.

The door shut quickly and a piece of the cloak was caught, revealing her to the outside guard.

She immediately entered attack mode and snatched the cloak while simultaneously dodging spells. Gringotts had anti-apparation wards surrounding their building for this very reason and Hermione was hit with a slashing hex that sent her to the ground.

Fighting Voldemort and surviving had made her stronger, so because this hex was not at the level of Voldemort, she was able to keep fighting. Voldemort and Bellatrix were tough competitors, but random Death Eater lackeys could be taken out easily.

She was bleeding as she ran from the guard and she could hear the pops of apparation around her. The other Death Eaters must be on alert and came when the alarm sounded.

As she ran, she flashed back to the night of her escape from Malfoy manor. It was happening again, trapped within wards and fighting for her life. This time it wasn't just her life, she needed to escape for Sirius.

That's when she saw him arrive; Voldemort had come to see that his horcrux was safe. She knew that she couldn't make it to the outside of the wards before he attacked, so she stuffed the cloak into the cup and whispered _portus_, she set the time for 5 seconds and watched as the cup disappeared and was sent to the Burrow.

She knew that she would be taken, but at least the cup would be with the right people. Plus, Hermione Granger was not about to be held in captivity again, she had planned for this since the last time she was taken.

Voldemort immediately had her petrified and sent her crashing to the ground. He walked in a circle around her and grabbed her by the hair, apparating them back to his hideout.

"So nice of you to finally visit, my dear," Voldemort was standing on a platform with Hermione surrounded by Death Eaters and kneeling on the floor before him.

"Now, what did you do with the cup?" Hermione refused to answer and the first cruciatus of the night began.

* * *

Many people were sitting around the kitchen table at the Burrow, all of them rubbing sleep from their eyes, except for Hermiones roommates.

Sirius Black was freaking out. He had just proposed to his girlfriend and when he was awoken by Dumbledore's patronus, she was gone. The other occupants of the house tried to calm him down, but as he listened to Dumbledore explain the situation, he knew where she was.

"I'm sorry to drag you from your beds at such an outrageous hour; however, the alarm at Gringotts was just sounded." Dumbledore announced.

At that moment, a flash of light came from the living room and the Order members got up to investigate. Sirius flew into the room first, hoping that Hermione would appear, but a small golden cup was all that fell into the room.

The Order was in an uproar as Dumbledore picked up the cup and told them that it was indeed, the final Horcrux.

When the invisibility cloak was noticed, James shared a look with Sirius and they both knew that the worst had happened.

"Am I safe in assuming that Ms. Granger is responsible for this?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's my cloak professor. I didn't even know it was missing." James looked horrified that his cloak had been returned, yet his friend was missing.

The Order began strategizing on what to do about Hermione. They knew that Voldemort had appeared and according to the Minstry he had left very fast and with another person.

As Sirius began to get extremely angry, another flash of light lit up the living room and once again, everyone rushed to discover what had happened.

Hermione was bruised and bleeding, and lay on the floor for a few minutes, trying to grasp what she had just done and then she looked up into the faces of her friends who were staring at her in horror.

_I'm safe. I'm out._

The shaking was no surprise as a fresh cruciatus had been cast a few minutes before her escape and she assumed that they would be used to her being bruised and cut up by now.

"Did you get the cup?" she croaked, "I sent it when Voldemort got to the bank."

Dumbledore knelt next to her and began healing all of her wounds. There was nothing too serious as she managed to escape rather quickly, so a trip to the hospital was not needed.

She was placed on the couch and once she assured everyone that she was ok, she told them what had happened once Voldemort had taken her.

"I knew he was going to take me as soon as I saw him arrive, so I sent the cup ahead. He tried to make me tell him about the cup and what we knew, but I swear that I didn't tell him anything."

"Of course you didn't dear, we know better than to think that. You're one of the strongest people here and we'd never doubt you." Molly tried to be reassuring as she saw Hermione trying to assure people that she didn't break under questioning.

"I've been prepared for this moment since I got to Hogwarts. When I was captured before I knew that there was only one way out with all of the wards that they had placed and that was by portkey, so I created my own portkey out of one of my rings and have never taken that ring off." She showed people the ring that Harry had given her back in fifth year for Christmas.

"It is designed to respond to my voice, so when I hold the ring and say 'safety' it takes me where I feel safe. I just waited for them to let down their guard for a second, which was of course during one of Voldemort's speeches about how I was a Mudblood, and got myself out."

"So you decided to go against all of my orders and get the cup yourself? I am disappointed in you Ms Granger." Dumbledore gave her a sad look.

"How?" was all that Sirius could ask and Hermione could not stand the hurt look on his face.

"I realized after you proposed that I couldn't let anything happen to you and I knew that you wouldn't let anything happen to me. I had been organizing this forever and I knew that I could do it and not get hurt."

"There is no way you could know that Ms. Granger. This is why I wanted to take as much caution as possible." Dumbledore interrupted.

"It was nothing, a few scratches and bruises," he body betrayed her as she shook from the aftermath of the cruciatus and Dumbledore gave her a knowing look.

"I've been held under the torture curse for much longer than that, trust me. I've been through much worse. Don't you see Headmaster, we've done it, and now we can face him. Plus, I'd give anything to see the look on his face as I vanished right in front of him."

"While I am pleased that we have the cup, Ms. Granger, I want you to know that you are barred from any missions until further notice. You have to know that it was extremely dangerous of you to go alone and I cannot have member of the Order disobeying orders on missions."

Hermione was angry, she had singlehandedly retrieved the last horcrux and would be able to protect Harry and everyone else and now she was being punished.

"Wait!" yelled Molly Weasley, "Did you say he proposed?"

Everyone looked incredulously at Molly, but then Lily squealed and grabbed Hermione's hand to inspect the ring.

"You're engaged!"

"When did this happen?"

"How did he do it?"

The focus had immediately shifted from the horcrux to her ring and Hermione found this hilarious. _Oh yes, I just found the last piece of Voldemort's soul, also I got engaged. Pay no attention to the horcrux, look at the shiny ring._

Hermione laughed as everyone came to congratulate the couple, but noticed the look that Dumbledore sent her. They were not finished this conversation.

Hermione was surrounded by friends giving congratulations and could not have felt happier. The shakes were subsiding and one again, Sirius was beside her and holding her as they happened.

She knew that Sirius was upset about her sneaking out and getting hurt, but she also knew that he would forgive her with time. It had to be done, there was no other option and she was not sorry.

_Though in hindsight I probably could've waited another day or at least until morning._

The horcruxes were found and all that was left was their destruction and the final battle with Voldemort.

Ron would be born any day now and Harry still had months. There was no word of a prophecy and she was quite certain that Severus would not overhear it this time.

She had heard from Severus a few times since graduation, though she would never tell Sirius, and he had abandoned life as a Death Eater in favour of opening his own apothecary and with the hopes of becoming a potions professor.

She had assured him that he would make a perfect professor and that Dumbledore would be insane not to hire him.

Severus Snape was saved as was his relationship with Lily and the two also kept in contact. James was not pleased with this, but kept quiet because he knew that they were friends and nothing more.

Her musings were cut off as Molly Weasley crushed her into a giant hug, "Oh I knew that he would propose! You can have the wedding here, no arguments, the back yard will be beautiful in the summer."

Hermione smiled, remembering Bill and Fleur's wedding and how gorgeous it was, "I'm sure it will be. Thank you Molly."

* * *

When they had left the Burrow and Hermione had been thoroughly chastised by Dumbledore, it was Sirius' turn.

She knew the questions were coming and she knew that he would get angry, so she took her time getting ready for bed that night.

She added a few more scars to her catalogue and silently wished that Death Eaters would stop using dark magic for cutting hexes.

After washing her face for the third time, she knew that he was not going to fall asleep and that she would have to face the music at some point.

"Why did you go alone and why did you sneak out without telling me? That's all that I want to know," Sirius threw this at her right as she walked into the room.

"I just knew that you would never let me go, don't deny it and I couldn't stand to wait any longer, Sirius. I hated sneaking off without you, but once you proposed, I just knew that I could never let Voldemort hurt anyone else that I care about. If I lost you like Remus lost Arya, I would not recover. I planned this down to a science, Sirius. I swear to you that it was 100 times safer to go alone than it would have been for multiple people."

She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand, "Remus is so strong Sirius, and I am not that strong anymore. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I want our kids to grow up with their little Potter and Lupin cousins and I want them to go to Hogwarts and to not worry about Voldemort or the Death Eaters, so I had to stop it."

"I want all of that too, love, but I never want you risking yourself like that again. I thought I was going to punch a wall when I couldn't find you. Do you know how hard it was to sit there and listen to Dumbledore say that alarm had gone off and knowing that it was you? You've been hurt too much and I just can't stand it."

She climbed into bed beside him, "I love you Sirius Black and I swear that I am not going anywhere. I would never have gone if I didn't believe that I would make it out alive and relatively unharmed. Please don't stay mad at me."

"I'm not mad...anymore. I just needed to hear your explanation and know that you put an annoyingly high amount of research into this plan. I'm just asking you to trust me, Mione. Could you imagine if you had gotten killed and I was just left here, not knowing that you had even gone? "

Hermione could feel the tears in her eyes, but tried to hold them in. Hurting Sirius was the last thing that she wanted, but she had done it.

"I just can't think what I would do without you and knowing that you willingly put yourself in danger made me so upset, but I know you had good intentions and I am extremely proud of you for what you did. You need to involve me in these things, Mione. That personal portkey is brilliant and I think all of the Order should have them just in case of capture, and had I known it existed maybe Molly wouldn't have yelled at me for breaking one of her cups."

Hermione smiled as Sirius pulled her closer, she knew that he wasn't completely over this, but he knew how independent she could be.

_If you only knew what a horrible future that I had prevented._


	20. Introducing Ron Weasley

Author's note: Hello there lovely people! Thank you for the wonderful reviews and all the alerts and faves, no matter what kind of day i'm having those are always a cheer up! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"His name is Ronald Bilius Weasley and he is perfectly healthy!" Arthur Weasley was all smiles as he came into the waiting room where the majority of the Order of the Phoenix was waiting impatiently for the news.

"Another brother!?" Bill whined from his chair next to Hermione.

"I'm glad," Charlie said, "Girls are icky."

"I am not icky!" yelled Nymphadora Tonks and she proceeded to try and smack Charlie as her mother held her back.

"Nymphadora! What did I tell you about behaving badly? You wanted to come see the baby like a big girl, so you'd better start acting like one," Andromeda scolded.

Hermione was astounded with the Weasley's in her own time, but now seeing all the children so young she could not understand how Molly and Arthur could cope.

With one just at Hogwarts, an eight year old, four year old Percy and twins in their terrible twos, Hermione would have cracked ages ago. Molly and Arthur handled it like it was the easiest thing in the universe.

Most of the Order had been filtering in and out of Molly's room all day to see baby Ron and to give presents and congratulations.

As Hermione held baby Ron in her arms, she could not contain the tears as they streamed down her cheeks. Sirius looked at her in alarm, but she assured him that she was fine and just overwhelmed by how adorable the baby was.

Molly fell asleep while Hermione was holding Ron, so Arthur and the others went to get some food. Hermione gave her order and just stared down at her former best friend and crush.

"Hello Ronald," she whispered as he opened his eyes, "I'm your Aunt Hermione and I am going to read you Hogwarts a History every day. You're best friend will be along in a few months, and you two will meet another little girl..."

Her face went pale.

_I've been born. I'm five months old, somewhere. _

_Was I born? Can there be two Hermione Grangers running around?_

Her brain went into overdrive trying to figure out what would happen when Ron would make fun of the smart girl who would then hide in the bathroom. There would be no need for a troll attack this time around, which was the foundation of their friendship.

Hermione thought back to her own childhood, _I was so miserable until Harry and Ron became my friends. I needed them and they needed me._

Now she was scared and needed to investigate. Dumbledore had said that her entire future now ceased to be, so maybe her parents we not even married in this timeline. Maybe there was no Hermione Granger, five month old.

She had been so worried about everyone else's future that she forgot about her own.

Little Ron curled his fingers around her hair and tugged, bringing her out of her stupor. "Well, whatever happens I promise that I'm going to take care of you and teach you to respect those little annoyingly smart girls in your class."

She kissed his forehead and slowly rocked him to sleep as Arthur and the others came back.

"You ready for your little one to finally come out, Lils?" Hermione asked as Lily held Ron.

"Yes please," she laughed, "He's been so feisty lately, so I haven't got a proper night's sleep in a long time."

They stayed until visiting hours were over and the Marauders went back to their shared house.

When Sirius and Hermione climbed into bed that night, Hermione just stared at him, "I want one," was all she said.

"Me too," Sirius responded.

Hermione was quite shocked. She had expected him to stutter or say that they weren't ready, or to tell her that sex is required to have a child, which they have not engaged in yet.

Sirius had never pressured her or even brought up the fact that they had not had sex and she was eternally grateful for that.

"I know you've never mentioned it, but I trust you more than anyone in the world and I won't be a prude forever, Sirius. I promise."

"Never think that about yourself, Mione," he kissed her forehead.

"I just-I need you to know how amazing you are and how much I love you," she started kissing him more passionately and things began to heat up very fast.

After quite an extended make-out session, which left her shirtless, she finally started to tremble, very subtly, but Sirius noticed.

When he stopped and went to pull her close, a sure sign that sleep would shortly follow, she tried to protest, "Sirius, it's fine, we can keep going."

"No love, go to sleep."

"I'm sorry," she was beginning to tear up, but he immediately stopped her, "Mione, there's nothing to apologize for. I know you're not ready yet, but you will be someday."

"Finding a man that doesn't only care about sex, how in the hell did I get so lucky?" she smiled up at him.

"When you fell from the ceiling you picked the best looking guy in the hall to try and strangle. Even then you had excellent taste."

Once again they fell asleep together and Hermione had never felt more peaceful.

* * *

According to Dumbledore, the Hermione Granger that was supposed to have been born in September would never cross her path.

Hermione was astounded, she didn't exist.

There was no young Hermione that would meet Harry and Ron at Hogwarts. No more Golden Trio, but at least there would be an Aunt Hermione to take care of her boys.

Apparently the Grangers that would have been her parents are not together in this time and are happily married to others, with no registered muggleborns having been born to either of them.

She had lived without her parents for so long, that this news did not bother her as much as she believed that it would. Minerva and Molly had been acting as her surrogates since her parents had died and she couldn't have asked for anything better.

No matter what was wrong, Molly or Minerva could always be counted on to make her feel better, or to just listen as she poured out her emotions.

Minerva had been absolutely furious with her after the Gringotts incident. She had invited Hermione to her rooms and got Hermione to describe every single detail of her preparation and exactly what had happened within the bank and afterwards when she was captured.

They began constructing the portkey rings for every member of the Order and though Minerva, like most others, was very concerned for Hermione's wellbeing, she understood why it had to be done. The anger that was directed at Hermione was purely in concern and Hermione knew that everyone was just worried about her mental and physical health, but she would sustain as many injuries as she could take to change the future.

* * *

The Weasley house was so full of life and happiness that it made everyone feel better just being there. All of the children were a constant source of happiness, especially with the addition of Gideon and Fabian who were around the house quite a lot lately to help Molly and Arthur with the kids.

Lily and Hermione found themselves at the Burrow quite a lot recently as well because Molly was helping to prepare Lily for the joys of motherhood.

"Have you thought of a name yet, dear?" Molly asked.

"Well, since we know it's a little boy, James wants to call him James Jr. of course, but I am not letting that happen. I've agreed it's a fantastic middle name, so we've narrowed it down to Harry James, though Sirius and Remus are still upset that he hasn't got one of their names."

Just hearing the name made Hermione excited, "I think that's a perfect name, Harry James Potter, it just sounds right."

"Harry and Ron will be fast friends I bet. Never hesitate to bring him by, darling" Molly was rocking a sleeping Ron as Arthur had the other boys out in the yard.

Hermione, Lily and Molly spent the evening discussing the upcoming wedding and decided on August, so that Harry would be born and, so Lily would look good in her dress.

Helping to plan a wedding was fun, but when it's your own wedding, it can get quite stressful. She didn't know what food to serve or what music to play, or even what the colour scheme should be.

Thankfully, Molly Weasley loved everything to do with weddings and was taking control of the ceremony preparations. Gryffindor colours would be proudly on display and a beautiful tent would be raised in the backyard for the ceremony and dancing afterwards.

She tried to keep her mind focused on the wedding, but her thoughts kept straying to Voldemort.

The horcruxes were found and the attack was imminent. Right now, the Death Eaters seemed to be lying low and the Order suspected that the capture of Bellatrix and the subsequent break-in at Gringotts were the reasons.

They had no idea where Voldemort was hiding out, so they simply had to bide their time and wait for the proper moment to defeat him.


	21. Born as the 7th Month Dies

Author's Note: So many reviews and alerts and favourites! You guys are the best! Keep them coming!

* * *

Hermione and Sirius sat outside the hospital waiting room, hands clenched together. Remus was pacing and Hermione's foot had not stopped bouncing up and down since the screams had started.

"James Potter you are never coming near me again!" Lily had been screaming things like this for the past half an hour.

It was July 31st and Hermione couldn't contain her excitement. Her best friend, the boy who had been her first friend, who defended her and helped her, would soon be here.

"Why is this taking so long?" Sirius whined.

"You try pushing a person out of you and see how fast it goes," Hermione joked.

It was then that a long, high pitched cry echoed through the room and hallway. James' laughter could be heard through the door and the group outside immediately jumped up and embraced in a three-way hug.

"My boy is here!" James Potter came bursting through the door with tears running down his face and the biggest smile.

"He's perfect and healthy and has the strongest set of lungs!" Sirius and Remus ran to him and gave him awkward man hugs that consisted of a lot of back hitting, but got the emotions across.

Hermione ran and wrapped him in a hug to rival Molly Weasley, "You're a Dad, Prongs!" she cried.

"I'm a Dad!" he repeated, "I'm a Dad."

He ran back into the room to see Lily and a healer came outside, "Mum and baby are just fine and you can go in to see them very shortly. We're just getting little Harry all cleaned up and making Mrs. Potter more comfortable."

When Hermione finally walked through the door and saw that little mop of black hair in Lily's arms, the tears began to flow down her cheeks, but she managed to get herself under control.

"Everyone, meet Harry James Potter, your godson," Lily smiled up at Remus, Hermione and Sirius as they got closer.

Remus looked at Lily, "Isn't Sirius the Godfather? He and Hermione are the Godparents, Lils. I'm fine with being the Uncle."

"No way Moony," James responded, "We just couldn't decide, so little Harry here is going to have the two best Godfathers in the world and the nerdiest Godmother in the world."

Hermione smacked James as Remus beamed down at the little boy, "Don't worry, Harry. You're auntie Hermione and I will make sure that you're top of your class."

"You will not turn my Godson into a nerd!" Sirius laughed.

"Can I hold him?" Lily handed Harry over to Hermione.

"Hello there little one," she played with his little fingers as they tried to grasp hers, once he opened his eyes and those bright, beautiful green orbs stared back at her, she couldn't contain her tears any longer.

After Harry had been passed around to everyone, Hermione took him back again while Lily was sleeping. James, Sirius and Remus had gone back to the house to pick up a few things and prepare for the arrival of little Harry.

"Oh Harry, I love you so much. You're Auntie Hermione will always be here for you. Your Mom and Dad are going to get to see you off to Hogwarts and they will see you graduate and you're going to have the most loving family ever. Nothing is going to happen to you and soon you'll get to meet your best friend, Ron."

Hermione stayed at the hospital for a few more hours and had taken a few hours to go and visit the Longbottoms. Frank and Alice were the new parents of a beautiful little boy named Neville and the Potters were already planning play dates for the little boys who were sure to be fast friends.

Once visiting hours were over, she finally left with Sirius and Remus and returned to the house to fill it with toys for little Harry.

* * *

Harry James Potter was a fussy little boy.

All of the Marauders were excited for the newest edition to their house. Because of the size, it was as if everyone had their own homes, yet they could always eat together or relax together when they wanted.

Every night someone would be woken up to little Harry's cries and Hermione, Sirius and Remus became quite adept at changing nappies and rocking him back to sleep.

Lily and James had protested for the first few weeks, but once they had been properly deprived of sleep, they allowed anyone who wanted the task of changing him at 4 am to go right ahead and do it.

The little family was perfectly happy and plans for the upcoming fight were running very smoothly, until one night when Mr. Rodolphus Lestrange decided to go to the Hogs Head pub.

Since his wife had been locked in Azkaban, Rodolphus had taken to drinking and destroying any muggles that he would come across.

That night he came across Albus Dumbledore, so he hid himself nearby as he listened to the conversation that he was having with an applicant for Divination professor.

As they were talking, the strange woman began to go into a trance and spoke of a prophecy:

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ...__"_

Upon hearing that the Dark Lord could be in trouble, Rodolphus ran back to his master to tell him the news and they began to place the pieces together and discover who would be their next target.

* * *

Since the Mudblood had vanished from right under his nose, Voldemort had been furious and his followers were more terrified than ever.

When Rodolphus came to him with the memory of a prophecy concerning his downfall, his anger rose and he immediately sent some of his most trusted to met with their contact at St. Mungo's and give him the possible names of the child that he now had to destroy.

He would rid himself of this problem quickly and get back to the Mudblood problem that was plaguing him.

He often found himself thinking that had she not been so filthy, he would have taken her to rule beside him. Her strength and power was admirable, but her unwavering devotion to Dumbledore and her filthy blood tainted her.

She would be connected to this prophecy somehow, he just knew it. When the time came to destroy the family and child that threatened him, he hoped that she would be there and attempt to stop him, so that he could kill her once and for all.

He was done playing.

* * *

"I had a meeting with a potential teacher last night," Albus explained to the Order members, "but as we were talking, she spoke of a prophecy. Since she is the Great-granddaughter of a very, very gifted Seer, we must take this very seriously."

Hermione paled and unconsciously clutched Sirius' hand. She knew exactly what was coming and wondered if anyone had overheard this time since she knew Severus would never tell Voldemort this time around.

"I'm afraid that we were in a public place and it is quite possible for someone to have overheard the prophecy, which directly places some of our own members in danger." At this point he looked over at the two young, happy families in the room.

"I'm afraid that the prophecy was concerning a child born at the end of July to parents who have openly defied Voldemort. This could apply to either young Harry or Neville, so for your safety I wish to place you in safe houses until such time as we can destroy the horcruxes and defeat Tom once and for all."

Lily was clutching Harry tightly to her chest as was Alice with Neville and while both men tried to calm their wives, Hermione spoke up.

"We can do secret keepers, so that no one will be able to come near you. I know everyone here would gladly volunteer to protect you and I would like to say that as Harry's godmother, I will take on that responsibility if you would like." Sirius took her hand in his and simply nodded at his best friends.

Each of the small families looked distraught as Dumbledore told them that one of their children would have the power to defeat Voldemort and that Voldemort would be looking to kill the child and anyone who stood in the way.

"Don't worry, because he is not going to find you before we kill him." Remus placed his hand on James' back and squeezed his shoulder.

"Voldie will be gone long before he discovers the prophecy or..."

At that point Sirius was cut off as a ghostly white goat came through the Burrow, "I'm afraid that there were Death Eaters in the bar last night Albus."

That was the only thing it said before vanishing into the air and Dumbledore explained that he had asked Aberforth to ask around and find out who may have overheard the conversation.

"For the moment we must assume that Voldemort knows of the children and we must take appropriate action."

Hermione and Sirius were sent to gather Lily, James and Harry's things while Marlene and Remus went to gather some of the Longbottom's items.

"I have two safe houses in place for you and Hermione will be the secret keeper for the Potter's while Sirius will take the responsibility for the Longbottoms." Dumbledore told them of the Fidelius Charm and ensured that Hermione and Sirius understood the dangers involved.

Frank grabbed Sirius into a 'manly' hug in thanks as the two secret keepers began the ritual.

* * *

With the prophecy scare and heightened security, Hermione and Sirius had a serious discussion about what to do concerning their wedding.

They had decided on August and had almost everything prepared, but now the big ceremony that they had planned would have to be postponed.

"Lily, James, Frank and Alice are all in the wedding party, we can't do anything that would risk their lives or those precious boys," Hermione knew that Sirius would agree with her.

"I just want to marry you already," Sirius laughed, "but it seems as though we'll have to wait until Voldemort is good and gone before I can make you mine."

"Foolish boy, I'm not going anywhere and I thought you would know that by now. I already have a ring that says I'm yours and waiting a little longer for another one will not change my mind." Hermione snuggled closer to Sirius on the couch as they waited for the moon to rise.

The basement of the marauders' house was specially equipped for Remus and now that James and Lily needed to be in their safe house most of the time, Sirius and Hermione would be keeping him company tonight.

Hermione couldn't believe that after everything she had done the prophecy was still overheard and James and Lily were still in danger.

She knew that this time their location would not be compromised and that Voldemort would never find the house, but that did not stop her from worrying for her friends.

Sirius and Remus were constantly with James and Sirius had taken to changing into Padfoot and terrorizing the Potter cat.

The couple was going stir crazy because they were so used to living with their best friends and having Order work to do, but now, for their own safety, they were not involved in missions or anything that had them appearing in public.

The tight knit group would still get together at the Burrow for Molly's wonderful meals because of the heavy protective wards surrounding the home, but even with all of the wards the Potters and Longbottoms would only come occasionally.

Now that Bill had moved on from Hermione, they were entertained by Nymphadora who was convinced that she and Remus were destined to be together.

_Smart girl that one._ Hermione always thought to herself when little Tonks would try and act so grown up whenever Remus was around.

Hermione's new goal was to have completed her mission by the time Ginny was born. She knew that this gave her approximately a year and with the way that the Order was coming together, this would definitely be possible.

Ever since the announcement of the prophecy, the Order was having regular meetings which included a large amount of progress on finding out the Dark Lord's location.

Since Hermione had been unconscious when she was brought there and since she portkeyed herself out, she had no idea where she was taken, but it did look like a large, Victorian structure and she was reminded of Malfoy Manor where Voldemort was hiding in her time.

They had ruled out Malfoy Manor when they conducted various surprise raids and so far they believed that the Lestranges held the key to Voldemort's location.

Now that Voldemort was on the lookout for the Potters and Longbottoms, everyone was taking this mission much more seriously and were planning to end this as quickly as possible.


	22. Getting Ready

Author's Note: University is killing me...ughhh. Finals are coming up and November is the month where everything piles up, but hopefully I can write between research papers haha! Thank you for the lovely reviews and all of the alerts/favourites :)

* * *

"Harry, leave the cat alone, darling!" Hermione was trying to get the cat's tail from the little boy's hands while Sirius laughed his head off.

Sirius decided to distract his godson from torturing the cat and transformed into his Padfoot form, which caused Harry to immediately squeal and crawl after him.

The Marauders tried to get together as often as possible and Harry loved the extra attention that he received every time they would appear.

"I wish we could take him to the Burrow and let him play with the kids, he needs some play dates," Lily was very anxious lately and was very protective of Harry, even within their own home.

"It won't be long now, Lils. We're getting really close to finding him and once we do, he will be gone forever and never bother you again," Hermione always spoke with such conviction about these things that it was almost impossible to not believe her.

Every now and then, James and Lily needed to escape and get out of the house, but it was becoming harder and harder to do so. They decided to stop visiting the Burrow on Dumbledore's advice and because Voldemort was on the move.

Voldemort had been spotted in a few areas, but because of his relentless pursuit for the two small families at the top of his hit list, he was making himself known and therefore vulnerable.

The Order was tracking his moves and now they knew for certain that the Lestrange home was the hiding place of the Dark lord.

Security at Azkaban had been increased in fear that Voldemort would get bold and attempt a rescue mission for Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters that had been captured.

No one was going to allow that to happen., especially Hermione.

* * *

This is it.

The Order was having what they hoped would be their final meeting before the attack on Lestrange Manor. They had decided to bring the fight to Voldemort and hopefully with the Aurors on their side, they could easily overpower the Death Eaters and Voldemort in his weakened state.

They were planning on attacking a week from now and were strategizing for every move that they could possibly anticipate.

Dumbledore had once again tried to stretch it out for fear of safety, but with the multiple sightings and attacks that were happening, they had to act quickly. Lily and James were going stir-crazy and the rest of the Order was being called into too many little Death Eater attacks.

Hermione suspected that these small attacks were being used to count the numbers and indentify the members so that private visits could be paid to certain members by Death Eaters. Each member had the top security wards placed on their homes, and many now stayed at Headquarters in the week leading up to the battle.

Being together made everyone feel much safer and Headquarters was one of the only places that Dumbledore would allow the Longbottoms and Potters to go, yet he always insisted that they return to their protected home quite quickly.

Hermione wanted nothing more than to finally end this so that she could marry Sirius and start a family, but she knew that anything could happen.

She was not going to die and leave Sirius thinking that she was still frightened and that he hadn't helped her at all. He had helped her by leaps and bounds and she felt as if she could take on the world now.

She was so close to completing her goal and just watching Harry chasing Padfoot around the room earlier today made everything that she had gone through worth it.

* * *

Sirius Black had a shitty day.

The Order was allowing James and Frank to be a part of the final showdown, but they had all agreed that at least one parent should be with the kids, in case something happened.

Lily and Alice were less than thrilled to be left out of what they had been preparing for since seventh year.

James, Sirius and Remus had been with Lily all day trying to calm her down and getting her to focus on Harry. Whenever the fact that something could happen and no one wanted harry losing both parents came up, Lily would become hysterical about something happening to James and they'd have to start all over with trying to calm her down.

They had finally gotten her to calm down and she decided that she would do as much research as she could to help minimize the risk of anything happening to her family.

Remus and Sirius had left the Potter's when Lily went into research mode and then Remus left to visit Frank.

Sirius needed a stiff drink and Hermione's calming presence to help him right now and he fully expected to find her on the couch reading as normal.

"Mione, you home?" he yelled through the house.

"I'm in the library" she called back.

He found her on the couch with two glasses of Firewhiskey and the fireplace lit.

"I assumed that you'd need one of these after trying to talk Lily down," Hermione handed him the glass with a smile.

"I love you," was all he replied before downing the drink and falling onto the couch, dragging her into his lap.

"I love you too," she replied, and immediately started kissing him.

The remained on the couch for a little while just talking and kissing, until Hermione grabbed his hands and he looked at her, "Sirius I'm ready."

"Mione, you know there's no rush, it's fine. I love you," but Hermione was through with waiting and kept ignoring his reassurances with kisses and by removing articles of clothing.

"Do you want to at least move to the bedroom?" Sirius suggested once things began to heat up.

"No, this is perfect. A roaring fire and a library," Hermione just smiled at him and continued removing more clothing.

Sirius could tell that she was really trying not to be nervous, but she was failing. He decided to take this slow and let her be in total control.

He also noticed that she tried to cover some particularly nasty scars that she had on her chest, including one that ran from her right shoulder down to her left hip.

Every time she would try to cover herself with her hands, he would stop and reassure her that they didn't matter and kiss the spots that she hated.

As the fire died, the young couple stayed in each others arms on the couch. Both were panting and tired, but had never felt happier.

Hermione had never felt more loved than she did in this moment, "I can't wait to marry you and give Harry a favourite cousin."

"If all goes according to plan, that'll be happening very soon, love" Sirius kissed her forehead.

"Thank you for being so patient with me," Hermione whispered, "I know as much as you deny it, it was bothering you and I just wanted to show you how much you've helped me."

Sirius didn't talk, merely hugged her closer as they both fell into a happiness induced slumber.

* * *

The Order was prepared and everything would be decided in a week.

One week and Hermione would finally be able to forget the past and build a new future with the man she loved and her new family.

Dumbledore was very reluctant to fully remove all of her memories, but told her that he would place them in a pensieve and lock them up. She didn't want to constantly compare her little Godson to the boy whom she had secretly had a crush on for years.

And even looking at baby Ron brought back memories of her first love and now that freaked her out.

She didn't want to completely forget their friendship, but Dumbledore assured her that he could change her memories, meaning that he could change the names and alter appearances of Harry and Ron to something else within her memories.

She knew that she could never be completely happy with Sirius if she always had the image of him falling through the veil stuck in the back of her mind.

Dumbledore wasn't the most powerful wizard in the world for nothing and was completely confident that he could make her believe the back-story that she had been telling everyone.  
Born in the 60s, but homeschooled by a close-by Wizarding family, who did not want their children in Hogwarts, and she lost her parents in a Death Eater attack targeting families of Muggleborns. She and her friends were hunting horcruxes when she was captured and tortured, ending up in Hogwarts.

Once Voldemort was destroyed, she would no longer want memories of her past. Other than the happy ones with Ron and Harry or the Weasleys or Minerva, she couldn't bear to think of Lily and James' death or Sirius' or Remus living all alone and being a social outcast for all those years.

She hated the idea of forgetting these people and that is why Dumbledore suggested a simple alteration of those happy memories.

She could always feel their love and remember the good times, but not have two timelines running through her mind and making her feel uncomfortable.

She wanted to tell Sirius everything, but how could she face telling him that he spends 12 years of his life in Azkaban and he is only free for about two years before he dies, not to mention that everyone that he loves is hurt or killed or left alone in some way.

She didn't want to break his heart when there was another option.

She loved him too much for that.


	23. This Is It

Author's Note: Gahh Univeristy life has been killing me, sorry about the slow updates. FInals are coming up soon, so it could be a little while until the next, but i'll try to post again soon (obviously reviews/alerts and favourites help!)

* * *

"Everyone stay down, the wards are very powerful and it will take quite a long time to break through them," James yelled at his fellow attackers, "We don't want to blow our cover before we even get in."

A large group of Order members and Aurors were hiding around the outskirts of Lestrange Manor and waiting for the signal from Dumbledore to advance towards the doors.

The Order had gotten the list of wards from a terrified Narcissa Malfoy, who had contacted her sister after the birth of the newest young Malfoy, Draco. Lucius and Narcissa began to have doubts about their, so called, 'master' once their son was born.

After Draco's birth, Voldemort had been excited to learn of a future servant and Narcissa was mortified at the fact that Voldemort was planning to use her boy as another one of his Death Eaters.

Severus Snape had brought this worry to Hermione and had set up a secure meeting between the frightened new parents and the Order. In exchange for protection after the fall of Voldemort, Lucius had gotten everything that he could find from his father about the wards surrounding the Lestrange Manor.

Narcissa had met Hermione to hand over the information and told her that ever since the day that Lucius was brutally punished for being beaten by a _'mudblood',_ he had been having second thoughts about his path in life.

Dumbledore was in contact with some of the best curse breakers in the world and they were currently working overtime in order to take down all of the wards surrounding the property.

A little further away from the others Hermione and Remus were together and holding a box of very important items.

This particular box was made from an impenetrable material that Dumbledore assured Hermione would be able to contain the Fiendfyre and destroy the horcruxes all at once.

Since Hermione and Remus were both extremely powerful, they were in charge of this dangerous task. Fiendfyre was extremely uncontrollable; however, the castor can make all the difference and Hermione and Remus were sure that they could control it enough to keep it contained.

The misty white Phoenix patronus appeared before Hermione and Remus, "The wards are about to be broken. Destroy the final pieces soon," and it blinked out of sight.

"You ready?" Remus asked.

"Never been more ready for anything in my life," Hermione smiled and Remus opened the box. The horcruxes looked so unimpressive lying there, yet they were the cause of so much hardship and it would be a pleasure to destroy them.

Remus and Hermione both cast their charms and placed all of their concentration into controlling the fire before it could manifest into creatures and get out of control.

As the pieces of Voldemort's soul began to burn, high pitched screams and horrible, twisted faces began appearing the flames and smoke.

The two Marauders called off the rapidly growing flames and though it took a little while, they got the fire under control and looked at the charred remains of the horcruxes.

As soon as Hermione picked up the remnants of the cup, a tortured yell came from the Manor and they knew that Voldemort was weakened and the battle was beginning.

* * *

Hermione and Remus ran to join the rest of the Order, who had begun the charge towards the, now unprotected, Manor.

"Kill if you must, but our main target here is Tom!" Dumbledore was yelling as the group advanced.

"Once the head is gone, the body will fall," Sirius grasped Hermione's hand and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead as they split ways upon entering the Manor.

Hermione and Dumbledore were together, along with Minerva, Remus, Arthur, Andromeda, Marlene and Benjy. This group was the group that would be taking on Voldemort and his surrounding Death Eaters.

The fight was not expected to be a long one. Voldemort just suffered an immense blow and was not going to last very long against Dumbledore.

They were more worried about what the Death Eaters would do once Voldemrot fell. It was too much to hope that they would simply give up, and some, like Lestrange, would sooner die than allow themselves to be captured.

All of the other Order members would be throughout the Manor, securing the location and once their areas were secure they were instructed to make their way to join the others.

Sirius was very reluctant to be on a different team than Hermione, but as Dumbledore pointed out, this was for the best.

He would not be able to focus if he could see Hermione fighting mere feet away from him and Hermione felt the same way.

* * *

The flashes of spells were blinding as the Death Eaters met the Order members and Aurors in fierce battle. The spells ranged from simple to deadly and many from both sides were being hit.

Hermione couldn't keep the nagging voice of worry out of her head as she fired spells left and right. Dumbledore managed to take out three Death Eaters in a single blow, but the others were trying to do most of the fighting so that he could conserve all of his strength to destroy Voldemort.

They reached a room that looked similar to the Great Hall of Hogwarts and at the end of a very long table, sat Voldemort, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Yet, those who had faced him before were able to see the damage that the horcruxes had done to his body. His skin was cracked and peeling in places and he looked to be sitting because he was conserving energy.

"Once again you show how utterly devoted to your followers you are Dumbledore," Voldemort slowly drawled, "I make the tiniest little movement against one of yours and you send the whole cavalry out to get me. You don't even know which family I was going for, yet you protect their lives with several others'."

After his little speech, he rose from the table and was immediately surrounded by some of his inner circle.

"Give up, Tom. You know what we have done and you know that you stand no chance against us. We have replaced your wards with our own, so there is no hope of a quick and simple escape." Dumbledore moved closer with Hermione and Minerva on either side.

"Ah, the little Mudblood is here too, right in the middle of the danger of course. So concerned with destroying me, yet I still do not understand where this vendetta comes from. Before we even met you seemed to be under the notion that I had ruined your life; however, I think that I would remember..."

Hermione's anger was rising with every word and she finally cut him off, "You have ruined my life along with countless others and it is time that you paid for that!" She started to move towards him with her wand poised to attack, but Dumbledore held her back.

"You're so sure that this is going to go so easily aren't you? " Voldemort's voice had gone quiet, but it was that menacingly eerie quiet that scared you as her spoke.

"You've split your people, thinking that I would have the majority of my followers here, with me, but you were wrong. Right now you're people are being outnumbered and I wonder, Dumbledore, who you would save if I placed lives against each other."

Hermione's face went pale and Remus took her hand as his own face grew pale as well.

As Voldemort smiled the skin around his serpentine mouth cracked and two hooded Death Eaters came forward, one with an unconscious Sirius and the other with a struggling James.

"NO!" was all that Hermione could scream as Remus and Minerva held her back.

"Everyone else is fine," James was shouting as the man holding him tried to shut him up, "We've almost cleared the whole manor, it's only whoever is in here, we're winn..."

The Death Eater finally cast a _silencio_ and they could no longer hear James' information. Not that Hermione was listening anyway, she was too focused in the unconscious form of her fiancée in the arms of the masked man.

"It seems as if your plan has backfired, Dumbledore. Now you get to choose between losing two of your precious Order members or one, and I'll make it a little easier. I'll trade you two Purebloods for one little Mudblood." He smirked at the silently screaming James and at Dumbledore who seemed to have aged ten years in the past ten minutes.

Albus Dumbledore does not bargain with the lives of his students.

"I will lose no one else tonight, Tom and there will be no choice. You are weakened and I will fight until my last breath for these..."

"You're last breath?" Voldemort interrupted, "It is not your last breath you should be worried about," and with that he cast a cruciatus curse on James who immediately fell to the floor in pain.

As Hermione and Remus immediately began to run forward, the Death Eaters closed in around James and Sirius.

That's when all hell broke loose.

* * *

Hermione and Remus bypassed all of the hands trying to hold them back and ran straight to James. Hermione, firing spells as she ran, was intercepted by Voldemort and knocked to the ground.

Dumbledore immediately stepped between the two and the battle that everyone was waiting for began.

Hermione and Remus were fighting the Death Eaters that had surrounded their, now unconscious, friends and they could clearly hear banging on the door from the other Order members who had cleared the Manor.

The Death Eaters defending the Manor were the best that Voldemort had to offer, so the fighting became intense, with many hits on both sides.

Remus was bleeding profusely from a cut through his eyebrow and had to keep swiping his hands over his eyes to remove the blood.

Andromeda looked as if she could barely walk and Hermione was getting worried for her. If anything happened to Tonk's mom, Hermione would never forgive herself.

All Order members had been advised to use their rings if they became overrun or if they were being beaten. Hermione knew that Andromeda would never admit defeat and use her ring, but if she didn't do something soon, she wasn't going to make it.

Marlene was hit with a purplish spell and now lay, unmoving, near a wall in the room. Hermione tried to get to her and inspect her wound, but it was impossible to stop firing spells.

She could see Aurors falling left and right, but thankfully so were the Death Eaters.

An angry scream echoed through the manor and everyone turned their attention to the two most powerful wizards in the room.

Hermione was sent crashing into the wall behind her as most of the Death Eaters in the room attacked her at once, sensing the demise of their leader.

Voldemort had never looked more snakelike and his eyes had never been more red. The anger radiating from him was easily felt in the air, but Dumbledore showed no fear.

"It is time to end this Tom. You will never harm another soul," Dumbledore got ready to cast the final blow, when a smile crept onto Voldemort's face.

As Dumbledore said the two words that would end the reign of terror, Voldemort uttered the same two words, yet his wand was not pointed at his enemy.

His wand was pointed towards the one thing that Hermione decided that she could not live without, and all of her concentration was broken.

She stopped fighting the Death Eaters who had ganged up on her and immediately turned her focus to Sirius' still form.

They all attacked at once.

A barrage of cruciatus curses and slicing hexes rained down on her.

She was trying to get up, but the cruciatus curses kept her down.

She tried to run or scream, but all she could do was watch as the green light sped towards her still unconscious fiancé in the arms of a Death Eater.

She blacked out as green light filled the room.


	24. Sacrifice of a Friend

Authors note: Hello lovely readers! I had such fantastic reviews last time, especially from laeeyore93, who i'd like to dedicate this to. She made me stop studying for finals (which are killing me) and write this weekend! Hope you enjoy and please review/favourite/alert me! :)

* * *

Being greeted with the blinding lights of the hospital once again, made Hermione groan and close her eyes.

Her memory took a few minutes to return to her, and as someone turned the lights off, she shot up in the bed, to scream for Sirius, but the crippling pain from her chest made her fall back and attempt the catch her breath.

Before she could get a look at the people in the room, they were ushered out by Madame Pomfrey. Even though Hermione was in St. Mungo's, Poppy had insisted on treating her and since Mungo's was overrun at the moment, they allowed it.

Poppy knew of all her old injuries from treating her so many times and was able to get Hermione out of danger fast.

Because of the barrage of spells, Hermione was currently being fed numerous potions and had to be treated extremely fast once she was brought in.

Hermione was frantically trying to ask where Sirius was and what had happened, but all that came out was squeaks and angry huffs.

"You're more beat up than you know, dear. Just try to relax and let me fix you up, so that you can get out of here," Pomfrey admonished and gave a sad smile, "Just know that he's gone and you can see your friends soon."

Hermione wanted to scream that all she wanted was to see Sirius and know that he was ok, but Pomfrey was shoving potions down her throat too fast and she felt one of them kick in as she found herself falling back into the darkness of sleep.

* * *

"I told you she will be fine," Hermione heard voices as she came out of her potion induced sleep once again, "she was already awake, but Madame Pomfrey said she needed some more time before we could see her."

She couldn't quite make out the voice, but then something grabbed her hair and wouldn't let go and her hazy mind became as clear as ever, "Harry?" she croaked.

Her voice was still quite weak, but the small sound was enough to silence the room.

"Hello Harry," Hermione smiled as those bright green eyes came into focus and the little boy currently chewing on her hair stopped his pulling and raised his arms towards her babbling.

"Auntie Mione can't lift you right now, honey," Lily stood up, taking Harry out of reach of the hospital bed, which did not sit well with the little boy.

"Thank Merlin you're awake!" Lily gasped, "I'll run and get James." As Lily left the room, Hermione became aware that her fiancé was nowhere in sight.

"Sirius," was the next word that came out of her mouth and she looked around the room frantically and tried to get up, but Remus immediately came to her side and took her hand.

"He's fine Hermione, he's fine," Hermione took a great breath of relief and began sobbing. Knowing that he was fine released so many emotions through her that she could not contain the tears.

Remus climbed into the bed with her and gathered her into his arms, "We just got him to leave and go back to the house. People were starting to complain about the smell, I swear he really needed a shower."

Hermione laughed, and then winced as a pain shot through her chest, "Take it easy for a while, yeah? He'll be here soon, I promise."

"Are you or James hurt? Is everyone else ok? Did we lose many? Please Remus, I need to know." Hermione was beyond scared to hear of about the fates of her new friends.

"James is fine, although he did have some of those aftershocks from the cruciatus. I had a few stitches, but one good thing about being a werewolf is quick healing, so my bruises and cuts were healed fairly quickly."

"I don't know what Poppy got to tell you about yourself, Mione, but your aftershocks will be permanent from now on. Apparently if you hadn't passed out, you would have been driven insane. I don't know how you continue to survive this stuff, Hermione." Remus grabbed her hand, "Poppy also said that there is definitely some internal damage this time too. She was a little apprehensive to tell me, but she knew that you'd prefer to hear from friends since she's treated you so many times."

They laughed and Hermione nodded, "she knows me well and she knows how much I would rather hear bad news from you than from her, again."

"Well, besides the tremors and internal damage, which I'm not sure what that involves, she said you'll be able to come home as soon as your potions are figured out."

"As for everyone else, Gideon will need a cane for the rest of his life, it was some kind of dark magic that the healers couldn't find a cure for, but it hasn't affected him very much. He is now convinced that the cane makes him more refined."

Remus got a solemn look on his face after this, "Minerva is here in St. Mungo's," Hermione's hand flew to her mouth in shock and she tried to interrupt, but Remus cut her off, "she will be ok," he said quickly, "it was a nasty hex from Lestrange, but she's the toughest woman I've ever met."

"That she is" Hermione smiled, "will I be able to go see her soon?"

"She's not stopped asking about you since she woke up a few days ago. I think Poppy is trying to get you in the same room soon."

"Arthur was banged up pretty bad because he tried to get to you as soon as he entered the hall, but he should be alright too. He won't be chasing around the kids for a while, and since Molly is ready to pop any day now we've all offered to help, but he should be ok."

"I'm sure you remember Andromeda being fairly beaten up and refusing to use her ring. We were all yelling at her, but she wouldn't stop fighting until Dumbledore finally killed Voldemort. She was hit by a cutting hex and I think that was the final straw because she's been unconscious ever since." Remus ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "The healers say she's magically exhausted and the strain was way too much for her to handle, they have no idea when she will wake up. Poor Ted and Nymphadora haven't left her side since she was brought in."

Hermione began to tear up, she knew that Andromeda was in danger during the fight. She nodded sadly and Remus continued, "Marlene didn't make it, whatever she was hit with drove her, powerfully, into a wall and ...well...she hit her head too hard. No one has seen Caradoc since we got the news. They had just started seeing each other apparently."

Remus had begun to tear up as well; they had all grown quite close to Marlene and gatherings would be strange without her cheerful singing and silly antics to cheer people up.

As the friends sat together on Hermione's bed and grieved for their lost friend and the others who had been hurt, Hermione thought of something, "Remus, how did Sirius come out alright? The last thing that I remember is seeing the green light going towards him, I...how did he move?"

Remus was about to answer when Lily returned with James, who ran to her side and grabbed her in a hug.

"We did it," he whispered in her ear, "it's over, he's gone."

"I told you that no one would hurt my godson," Hermione smiled up at him and took Harry whose arms were stretched out for his auntie again.

"Sirius will be here as soon as you get up tomorrow," James assured, "I may have slipped him a sleeping potion once we got to the house." At Hermione's look, he raised his hands in defense, "Trust me, he needed it."

"Have you filled her in, Remus?" Lily asked as she said down.

"Pretty much, all except for, you know." Remus and Lily exchanged a tense look and Hermione did not like this.

"Who was it? Is someone else dead? Please tell me," Hermione pleaded.

"You were wondering how Sirius survived, well, Voldemort sent the Avada Kedavra right at him while he was being held by a Death Eater," Remus stopped to take a breath, "that Death Eater was Peter, Hermione."

"What?" Hermione was confused and noticed James trying to wipe away tears without anyone noticing.

"Peter was holding Sirius and as the curse was getting closer, he threw Sirius to the ground and took the curse himself," Remus held her tighter as she gasped, but continued with what happened, "Voldemort was hit by Dumbledore's curse and once he fell, we rounded up most of the remaining Death Eaters. Some stopped fighting, but a lot had to be restrained, most are in Azkaban awaiting the kiss."

Hermione was absolutely shocked. Peter Pettigrew was the scum of the earth in her opinion and now she owed him her life. Sirius would be dead if he hadn't been there and Hermione could not get over the fact that he had died believing that his once good friends, hated him.

She has written Peter off completely once they fell out and knew that his life at Hogwarts had become horrible, but she never paid any attention to it. In her time, Peter was the cause of so much pain and that was all she knew.

Now she knew that he was a lost boy who needed his friends.

He had given his life so that Sirius could live.

She knew it was nothing to do with her. Peter hated her, but even though he had fallen to Voldemort's side, he still loved his friends.

Lily and James left to put Harry to bed, but Remus stayed a little longer. Hermione sat with Remus for a few more hours just being shocked about what Peter did and talking through what could have caused him to give his life.

Madame Pomfrey came to check on them once visiting hours were over and it was time for more potions, "Sorry Remus, but it's time to leave."

Hermione gave him a final hug and he assured her that Sirius would be the first face that she would see in the morning.

With that thought in her mind, she gladly took the potions that Poppy gave her and drifted once again, into a medically induced sleep.

* * *

(Did you really think I'd kill him? Come on)


	25. Enough For Two Lifetimes

Author's note: Gahh Finals suckedd! But now i'm out of my dorm and home for Christmas so I suspect this story will be finishing up soon! Thank you for the reviews, alerts and favourites! Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate :)

* * *

The next time she awoke, it was to the gentle voice of her fiance, "I've had enough of you sleeping for one lifetime. I think it's time you wake-up now, love."

Her eyes immediately shot open and Sirius managed to move fast enough to avoid bumping their heads together.

They each threw their arms around the other and simply held each other for a while without speaking at all. Once Sirius had gotten into the hospital bed with her and once they were sitting snugly wrapped in each others' embrace, they began to speak.

"Remus told me everything that happened," she started, "I never liked Peter, and I know he hated me, but I truly think he loved you guys."

Sirius looked down at her, "Moony, Prongs and I were trying to figure out how his life could have gone so wrong, but we honestly can't figure it out. He was our best friend and we never suspected anything and then we found out what he was into, we just assumed that he was spending all of his time with his friends in Slytherin."

Sirius looked devestated. Peter may have been a little rat, literally, but clearly there was some good left in him at the end.

"We even went to Lucius to ask him about Peter, but he told us that Peter seemed to completely drop off the map once we stopped being friends with him. Snape said he had been at Death Eater meetings, but that was the only time anyone ever saw him."

Siriius stopped for a little while and they both just tried to let the information soak in a bit.

"We're discussing having a service for him. I owe him my life, I guess that's the least I can do."

Hermione nodded, "With lots of flowers, Peter loved Herbology. I think that's all I knew about him."

They both looked a little ashamed, but Peter had brought on their hatred himself and no one could help but remember him as a Death Eater as well as the little, chubby boy who followed the Marauders everywhere.

"James said Minerva is getting quite impatient with the healers here. Apparently yesterday she threatened to shift into her animagus form and sneak into your room if they didn't soon let her visit you."

They both boke into laughter, because both could see her doing exactly that if she didn't get her way.

"Pomfrey said that they were going to put you in same room, but you both should be out really soon. I suspect that that's the only reason she isn't here right now.

He became a little solemn, "We wondered about Andromeda, but she has to stay in isolation. I think Ted and Tonks said they would come visit this morning."

Hermione was excited to see little Tonks, "I hope Andy comes out of this. I remember her looking horrible right before I passed out, but that little girl deserves her mom."

Sirius looked really worried for his cousin, "she's one of the few decent people to come out of my family and now that Narcissa has finally come to her senses, I had hoped they would get to reconcile. Cissy's been here visiting quite a lot actually. I think becoming parents really changed them. Though what kind of a name is Draco?"

Hermione snorted, "Yeah because we can make fun of names?"

Sirius laughed in agreement, "Molly and Arthur are coming with the kids today too. I told them Pomfrey wanted to talk to you this morning and then that they should come by this afternoon, so get ready for lots of hugs."

Hermione smiled, "I don't think I've ever wanted a hug from Molly so bad in my life."

She looked up at Sirius, "I woke up and Madame Pomfrey gave me more potions and I couldn't ask where you were. I thought you were dead, Sirius," she hugged him closer.

"The last thing I remembered was seeing the green light rushing at you and when I didn't see you right away I knew that something was wrong. Thank Merlin for Remus, the first thing he told me was that you were fine."

Sirius just held her close and the couple continued talking about their fallen and injured friends.

"They still haven't found Caradoc, everyone's scared that he may have done something drastic once he learned about Marlene." Sirius moved some hair from her face, "I think he just needs some time. Remember how Remus just wanted to be alone, well I think Caradoc knew that we wouldn't let him be by himself for too long, so he took off before we could get to him."

They were shaken from thier solemn conversation when Poppy entered the room, "Good morning, dears. How are we feeling this morning, hmm?"

"I'm feeling fantastic this morning actually," Hermione replied grasping Sirius' hand.

"Well, Hermione, I have some good news and some bad news. I knew that you would prefer to hear most of it from a friend and Mr. Lupin assured me that he told you most of your condition," at Hermione's nod, she continued, "I'm sure that you are wondering what I meant by internal damage and I want you to know that the cruciatus curse has never been used on someone as frequently as you have been a victim of it. This has permanently damaged your nervous system and some internal organs."

Right on cue, a tremor shifted through her leg causing some twitching and Poppy was able to showcase her point.

"I know you can live with the twitches and you know that the potion to calm them is addictive, so I cannot give you much of it and we must watch the dosage."

Hermione nodded and so did Sirius, ensuring that he would not allow her to take more than she could.

"The organ damage is going to take a lot more than a potion to fix. It's going to take time, and a lot of it. I know you're feelings on children, but I need to warn you that at this time, it is not a possibility."

As the tears fell down Hermione's face, Poppy immediately continued, "It will not always be impossible dear. However, if you do not allow the proper time for your injuries to heal, your body will never allow you to carry a child to full term. You must exercise extreme caution and do not try until I give you the all clear."

Sirius dried her tears, "We can wait as long as it takes. There's no hurry, the danger is gone and we can take our time, Mione."

_The danger is gone._

_The danger is gone._

This was the first time that she truly thought about what she had done.

Voldemort was gone.

She smiled up at Sirius, "he's gone and we can finally be happy."

Poppy left the young couple alone, and didn't even scold Sirius for refusing to get out of the hospital bed. They stayed curled together discussing the future and how they would just take it one day at a time. Their wedding was obviously an important upcoming event, but would not be soon.

They needed to recover from their losses and ensure the ramaining dangers were taken care of.

"You're awake!" came the excited voice of Molly Weasley. Arthur was in front of her, being pushed in a wheelchair with Billy and Charlie hanging off of the sides.

"MIONE!" Bill Weasley ran and jumped onto Hermione's bed, knocking Sirius out of the way.

"Are you ok? Mum said that you'd be ok, but she said Tonks' mom would be ok too and she hasn't woken up yet, but you're awake so that means you're ok right?" Charlie was rambling on and on until Bill smacked him over the head and Molly yelled at them until they stopped fighting.

"Are you feeling alright today, darling?" Molly grabbed Hermione into a hug where she wanted to stay forever.

"I'm having a great day and Poppy said i'd be able to leave soon, so I just can't wait to get out of here. How are you two doing? Molly, you look like you're going to pop!"

"I'm expecting this one to show up in a few weeks. We're hoping that he will be a bit late, so Arthur can't get a little stronger," Molly patted her husband on the shoulder and he took her hand in his.

"He?" Hermione inquired knowingly.

"I've quite given up on my quest for a Weasley girl," Molly admitted, "With all this war going on, I just want a healthy baby who can grow up without any danger."

Everyone just nodded and knew exactly what Molly meant.

As she watched the little boys play fight with Sirius, Hermione couldn't help but laugh. This was exactly what she was hoping for, well besides being almost fatally wounded and having to postpone the idea of little friends for Harry and Ron, and she couldn't wait to see Dumbledore and get her mind straightened out.

When the Weasley family left after many more Molly-hugs and promises to return, Sirius remained curled around Hermione in her hospital bed.

Poppy tried to kick him out, but gave up quite quickly once she saw how Hermione's mood improved with him around.

She began to fall asleep quite comfortably in his arms and after a kiss on the forehead he followed her into sleep, whispering "You're never setting foot in a hospital again. I don't care if I have to tie you up and never let you out of the house, but you've had enough danger for two lifetimes."

Hermione smiled at him in her sleep, _two lifetimes indeed._


	26. Losing Your Memory

Author's note: Hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday time!

* * *

"REMUS!" The occupants of the hospital room turned to see little Nymphadora Tonks running towards them and jumping into the arms of Remus Lupin.

He was sitting in a chair right next to Hermione's bed and as Tonks jumped into him, she jumped across the gap to give Hermione a hug as well.

"Mione! Are you alright?" The preteen began firing off question after question, "Will you be here long? My Mom needs to stay here for a while, but she will be ok, I know she will, because she's super tough."

Her hair was shifting from colour to colour as she kept talking, "Nymphadora, darling calm down please," came the exhausted voice of Ted Tonks as he walked into the room.

"How are you doing Ted? They haven't let me go see Andy yet, but I hear she's super tough and will be fine," Hermione smiled at the girl who was currently being recieving a piggy back from Sirius.

Ted came forward and leaned down to give her a hug, "It's hard, I wont lie, but Nymphadora is getting me through it and, surprisingly, Narcissa Malfoy has been doing anything she can to help out. I can't wait for Andy to wake up and she that her sister has finally come around."

Hermione thought about the Malfoy family, "Narcissa was here with little Draco. She seems to truly want to repent, but I assured her that without her help we would never have gotten past those wards. I'm glad Draco will have his parents to raise him and that Lucius and Narcissa got out before it was too late."

"I've heard you're feeling better and will soon be able to leave," Ted said as he took a seat next to Remus.

"I should be out of here tomorrow, thank Merlin," she responded.

The small group of friends sat around the hospital room remembering the 'good old days' until the Tonks' had to leave, though they weren't going far.

"We'll come visit at the house soon," Ted promised and he gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek before prying Nymphadora away from Remus sand leaving to sit with his wife.

"Dora certainly seems to be smitten," Hermione smirked at Remus, who immediately turned red.

"She's 12 and I'm a boy who pays attention to her, she'll get over it quickly," He assured her, but mostly himself, that he was her first crush and it was rather cute.

Hermione smiled and thought, _If you two don't get married, I'll be so upset._

Hermione told Sirius to head back to the house with Remus and tell Harry that she'd be home soon to play with him, but Sirius always had a hard time leaving her.

"You know that Professor Dumbledore is coming soon, so you know that I wont be alone. Go get some rest and some of Molly's cooking, i'll be fine for the night.

After insisting that Dumbledore was on his way, and that she wouldn't pay any attention to him if he stayed anyway, Sirius finally left with Remus dragging him through the door.

Hermione rested her head against her pillow and closed her eyes for a moment in relaxation, Dumbledore was coming to alter her memories tonight and soon the ache she felt in her chest would be gone.

Little Harry and Ron never failed to cheer her up, but that little voice in her head kept reminding her of everything that they had gone through and she couldn't take it anymore.

Sirius was her life now and though she loved him with all of her heart, that little voice kept nagging about him being so much older than her and reminding her of all the horrible things that he had gone through.

_None of that will ever happen. My future is gone, time to let go._

"Good evening, Miss Granger," the soft voice of Albus Dumbledore caused her to pop open her eyes and sit up, smiling.

"Hello, Sir!"

"Before we attend to our business, I would like to sincerly thank you for all that you have done, Hermione," The eternal twinkle shone brightly in his eyes as he spoke to her.

"You have saved countless people and have prevented so much heartache. Though I know that your conscious feels guilt for those who you were not able to save, you must remember that it is impossible to save everyone. The odds and fates were against you, Hermione, yet you managed to overcome all that you have been through and make a life here for yourself and others. I am extremely proud of you and am honoured that I could assist you on your mission."

With tears in her eyes, Hermione reached for Albus and hugged him as tight as she could. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before a quiet, "thank you" was uttered from Hermione.

"You are completely sure that this is what you want to do?" Dumbledore knew that he could alter her memory enough so as not to interfere with the current timeline, but whether or not she was truly ready to forget was a big question.

"I am. I can't move on with my life while the past is running through my mind. How can I marry Sirius when I can picture him at 40 as an ex-convict, or how can I watch Harry grow up happily with his parents when the image of their graves is still fresh in my mind? Our experiences will still be there, but I need the circumstances to be changed. I need the grown-up faces of my little godsons out of my mind. Narcissa brought Draco for a visit yesterday and all I could picture was him at 12 calling me a mudblood. I can't live with that anymore, sir. I just can't." Hermione was getting quite emotional at this point.

The strain of everything that had happened in the past few years was catching up to her and, though everyone believed her to be one of the strongest people they'd ever met, she was beginning to doubt that she could take any more.

"You brave, brave girl. I think it is time that you rested. I cannot begin to imagine the horror of facing your torturers before they have even met you and changing the fates of those whom you have grown to love," he leaned him and kissed her on the forehead.

"The only people who know you're true story are myself, Minerva and Poppy, so in the interest of preserving the strong bonds you have formed, especially with Minerva, I will ensure that she has a place in the past I create for you."

"I don't know how to thank you for this, Professor. I am so greatful for everything that you've done for me and I hope you know how appreciatitive I am, truly," Hermione took one of his hands and held it tightly in hers.

"You have done enough, dear. No thanks are necessary because you deserve to be able to live your life, so let's begin shall we?"

Dumbledore pulled his wand from inside his sleeve, " You will sleep quite deeply when I have finished as your mind will need time to recover. I have informed Poppy of this, so you will get plenty of time. Are you ready?"

At Hermione's nod, he began the intricate wand movements and Hermione could feel herself forgetting as she began to fall unconscious.

_I love you Harry, Ron, Mom, Dad. My feelings wont change, just your faces. _

_I love you all._

The Harry she was thinking of now seemed to be changing to a brunette, who looked nothing like James and she found herself getting extremely confused.

Then she heard Dumbledore's voice begin to rise,

the light encompassing her vision grew brighter,

and she passed out.


	27. Welcome Home Hermione and Ginny

Author's note: I thought i'd have this story finished over christmas holidays, but they were more hectic than I thought and now i'm back at University. Only 2 or 3 more chapters to go, thank you all for reading. You have no idea how awesome it is to have people like something I wrote!

* * *

Hermione woke up to Madame Pomfrey setting out her potions for the morning. Her brain was a little foggy, but she passed it off without a thought since she was on so many different potions.

"Morning, Hermione! Your usual party is outside waiting to get in. I told them that they needed to wait for you to wake up today, and you had a bit of a lie-in this morning."

"I think I could sleep this day away if I tried," Hermione admitted, "Have you changed any of my potions?"

Poppy knew that Hermione didn't remember any of the memory wipe, so she simply reassured her, "The new pain potion I have put you on can take quite a lot out of you the first time. Your body needed to adjust to the new levels. Trust me, it's perfectly normal to be drowsy."

Hermione simply agreed as she had no reason whatsoever not to trust Poppy since she had taken such good care of her after her arrival at Hogwarts.

"Good morning sleepyhead," the drowsiness vanished from her face as her family walked in.

Sirius was by her side in an instant and the chairs were placed around the hospital bed for Lily, James and Remus.

"My-my-my," was all little Harry was babbling once he laid eyes on her and Hermione immediately scooped him up to being talking back to him.

For the first time since Harry was born, Hermione felt completely at ease with her little Godson, and she didn't know why.

It was like something was different, but Hermione shook it off as just as weird feeling.

"Hello little Harry," Hermione was cooing and fussing over Harry and ignoring her fiancé, but who could be jealous of such a cute little boy?

Sirius Black of course.

"Hermione...Hermione...Mione..." Sirius was literally poking her in the arm to gain her attention.

Some people do not grow up and Hermione thought it was hilarious.

"Why did you sleep so long? Did you have trouble with your potions? Are you still coming home today?" Sirius had never sounded more like a child.

She handed Harry back to Lily and took Sirius' hand, "relax, Sirius. I'm coming home today and apparently so is Minerva, so she's coming to the house with us for some tea."

"Excellent!" Sirius pulled out a small bag and began to place her cards and toiletries and some clothes into it.

"Calm down Padfoot! She still needs to be properly discharged and released by Madame Pomfrey," Lily was walking around the room bouncing Harry on her hip to calm him down since he got a little fussy when he was taken from his Auntie Mione.

Hermione looked around the room at the people whom she had grown to love and smiled. Since she landed in Hogwarts, these people have done nothing but try to make her feel loved and to help her move on from the tortures of her past.

As she watched Sirius play around with Harry, she couldn't wait to start a family of her own with him. She knew that it would be a while because of her injuries, but she couldn't wait to start planning their wedding and get their future started.

* * *

"Welcome home Hermione!" As she walked into the living room the sight of her friends standing around with a welcoming party made her laugh.

Bill and Nymphadora were home from Hogwarts for the summer and were holding up a big sign with 'Welcome Home' written on it in beautiful Gryffindor colours. Charlie was running around entertaining the twins who were just beginning to walk and little Ron was sitting in his playpen with his friend Neville, while being read to by his big brother Percy.

Harry was in James' arms and as soon as he laid eyes on his favourite aunt, his arms reached out to her, ordering to be picked up.

"Thank you so much, everyone!" Hermione was receiving hugs and being passed drinks and food as she entered the room.

"Think you're ready to stop visiting the hospitals now, dear?" Minerva was sitting on a couch next to, a ready-to-pop, Molly.

Hermione immediately ran to her and crushed her in a hug. Minerva had been a mentor to her after her parents had been killed, so when she arrived at Hogwarts, she was relieved to see the woman safe and sound.

Minerva just smiled and returned the hug, as she knew that Dumbledore had kept the memories of their long talks and had even altered some of her memories from the past to include Minerva.

She sat between the two women on the couch and felt her spirits soar with happiness. She was completely at ease as she watched everyone playing with the kids and celebrating the end of the war.

Even Ted Tonks was putting on a brave face and chatting with friends.

Andromeda had made no progress, but at least she had not gotten any worse either.

Caradoc had returned and, after some yelling about how he had scared everyone to death, he had stated that he needed some time to grieve in private.

He and Remus were currently talking and Hermione knew that if anyone could understand what he was going through, it was Remus.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Molly, "So, did you start any wedding planning while cooped up in the hospital?"

Hermione smiled, "I actually did and we're thinking a winter wedding."

"Oh that would be beautiful!" Immediately most of the women in the room migrated to the couch, joined their conversation and the planning began.

As the night went on, Hermione noticed Molly trying to hide her discomfort and when she went to the kitchen to get some more snacks, Hermione followed her.

"Molly I know you love wedding talk, but I know something is wrong," Hermione walked in as Molly placed her hand on her stomach and winced.

"I think the newest Weasley is on his way," Molly smiled, "I've done this a few times, Hermione. No need to freak out, it'll be a little while yet."

Hermione dragged Molly out into the living room to Arthur and as soon as he saw her face, he knew, "St. Mungo's?" he asked.

"It's time," Everyone in the house began to cheer and celebrations began again.

Arthur grabbed a couple bags and headed into the fireplace with Molly, "We'll join you in a few minutes," Hermione yelled as she was handing some sober-up potions to Gideon and Fabian.

* * *

"Her name is Ginevra Molly Weasley," Arthur was absolutely beaming as he entered the hallway where the Order members were waiting.

"A girl?" Bill Weasley was shocked. As the first Weasley boy he was used to having nothing but brothers.

Hermione and the marauders went in to see the first Weasley girl and Hermione couldn't contain her excitement. Babies were now on her mind and even though she knew that it would be a while before she could have children herself, she had so many little honorary nieces and nephews that kept her spirits up.

"Hello there little Ginny," Hermione and Lily ran to Molly and began cooing over the little girl while Remus, Sirius and James went to Arthur and congratulated him.

"Finally a little girl," Molly was overwhelmed and couldn't contain her happiness. The room was slowly being filled with pink dresses and tons of toys.

Hermione looked at Molly and Arthur surrounded by their kids with longing, which did not get past Sirius. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "It'll happen. I'll wait as long as I have to and if it truly doesn't happen then you know there are other ways."

Hermione just nodded her head and leaned back into him, "You know Molly basically planned our entire wedding yesterday?"

Sirius laughed, "Well then, now we have the perfect little flower girl to go right alongside Harry."

Hermione could see it. A beautiful winter wedding on the Hogwarts grounds over holidays.

She wished that she had gone to Hogwarts, being there for a year was not long enough.

Hogwarts is where her life changed forever because Hogwarts is where she met Sirius and Hogwarts would be where they'd start their lives together.


	28. Mrs Black

Author's note: Hello there wonderful people! Thank you all for the reviews, alerts and favourites! We are nearing the end, i'm thinking one more chapter, but I already have another story in my head that's been bugging me for a while, so that one will happen once this semester gets too stressful haha

* * *

"It's freezing! Who had the genius idea of a winter wedding? Wedding dresses and snow do not mix!" Hermione was pacing the floor of the Transfiguration classroom while her friends merely looked on chuckling amongst themselves.

"You thought it would be beautiful, remember? You decided that having an extremely quick ceremony on the grounds would be best and there's a heating charm on the canopy outside, that you performed yourself, so it's perfect." Lily came to the rescue, "Relax."

"How were you so calm at your wedding? Didn't it go through your mind that James wouldn't be standing at the end of the aisle as you were walking down to meet him? What if Sirius has finally come to his senses and has decided that I'm not worth it?"

Though Sirius has insisted a million times that the scars didn't bother him and that they told the world how strong his girl was, Hermione decided to use the glamour when she walked down the aisle. Today was the day that Bellatrix would be getting the Dementor's kiss along with many Death Eaters that refused to change.

Though the woman who had caused her nightmares and scars would soon be gone, she still could not fully accept them herself, which led to a persistent bit of doubt always present in her mind.

The ranting of the bride continued, but Minerva quickly put an end to her doubts.

"Stop all that nonsense this instant. I've know Sirius Black since he was eleven years old and that boy has never, ever, looked the way he does when he is with you. Everything is going to be fine and you are going to get into this dress and walk out there to start your lives together."

Hermione started crying and laughing, "Oh of course, emotional bride ruins her make-up. Of course you're right. I bet Sirius is laughing it up and probably into the firewhiskey by now."

* * *

"I bet she looks gorgeous. What if some single, handsome, bloke comes up to her and tells her how gorgeous she looks and she runs off with him?" Sirius was not fairing any better than his soon to be bride.

"Relax, mate. I was just there to give them the 30 minute warning and Hermione was getting ready. She looks beautiful and she told me to tell you that she loves you." Remus was once again being the calm one and telling his friend exactly what he needed to hear.

"I know, I know, but I'm allowed to panic, right Prongs?"

"People always talk about how much the bride panics during the wedding, but I think the groom is going through just as much. Apparently Lily was calm and collected, taking lots of pictures, and well, you guys know what I was doing."

The men just nodded as Frank poured some more firewhiskey for the group in the hopes of calming the groom.

* * *

Sirius Black had never felt more nervous than in those few minutes waiting at the altar for his lovely bride to make an appearance.

The grounds of Hogwarts were snowy, yet there was not enough snow to cause discomfort.

A beautiful canopy was set up with a warming charm so that the guests would be comfortable during the ceremony and then they would all enter the Great Hall for the reception.

Little Harry Potter was being helped down the aisle by a very handsome Bill Weasley and right alongside them was Ginny Weasley being carried by Nymphadora Tonks.

Sirius smiled as he watched his godson stumble down the aisle towards him with the help of Bill.

The group of kids looked so adorable, but were immediately removed from Sirius' thoughts as Hermione came around the corner and entered the tent.

She was breathtakingly gorgeous and Sirius didn't take his eyes from her until Dumbledore began to speak.

The ceremony was short and sweet, but full of love, and as fast as it seemed to fly by, Hermione knew she would never forget it.

Hand-in-hand they walked back up to the castle as Mr and Mrs. Black and though Hermione knew that the other members of Sirius' family would never accept her, she didn't care.

Gideon and Fabian had set off fireworks as soon as Dumbledore pronounced them man and wife, and they rose high over the castle, bursting into magical shapes and words, such as 'congratulations' and 'true love'.

The Great hall had been transformed into an ice palace, with none of the cold. The scene was remarkable and no one wanted to leave the Great Hall that night.

The dancing lasted well into the night and not even Hermione or Sirius wanted to leave early.

The Malfoy family was in attenance and though they looked quite uncomfortable, Order members were trying their hardest to help the young family fit in. Draco, Harry, Ron and Neville had no problems mending any broken fences and the four boys were constantly together.

After several threats about treating Hermione right, Sirius was truly coming to realize what an amazing woman he had managed to marry.

Arthur, Molly, Minerva, Poppy, little Bill and even his best friends James and Remus had ensured that if he broke her heart, they would break his legs, though Bill's was much less threatening.

As he watched her dance with Harry in her arms, he couldn't help but long for a child of their own. He knew the waiting game was all that they could do, but he knew that they would have children one way or another.

Ted Tonks was laughing with his estranged sister-in-law at his daughter, who was trying, and failing, to get Remus to keep dancing with her.

Remus had recently started dating someone, and though they weren't overly serious, Dora hated her.

Dora and Ted were taking a night off at the insistence of Andromeda who had woken up just a couple of weeks ago. Her daughter and husband hadn't left her side, as she had an extremely long recovery time ahead of her, and she was getting a little fed up.

She had insisted that they go ahead without her, since she would probably be at home sleeping the entire time anyway.

Hermione came to save Remus from the persistent teenager and insisted on a dance.

"Will she ever stop Mione? I mean, she has to know that I'm too old for her and the poor thing doesn't even know what I am," Remus scowled at Ted Tonks who was laughing at him with Sirius and James.

"She'll grow out of it, Moony. She's getting to that age now where she will start noticing the boys at Hogwarts, and what you_ are_ is my best friend and one of the best men I know," Hermione stopped him from arguing and kept the dance going until Sirius came to break them up.

"I have a bone to pick with you, dear wife" Sirius said as he took Hermione's hand from Remus and began to twirl her around the floor.

"What might that be, dear husband?"

"Why on earth did you use that glamour? You know it doesn't matter to me and you're just as beautiful without it, right?"

"I know, Sirius. I just couldn't face the thought of walking down the aisle in this beautiful dress, with my hair and make-up all done and those ugly things reminding me of the worst days of my life," she smiled up at him, "I'm ready to start my new life now, and you're helping me get through everything, but I just couldn't look today."

Sirius kissed her on the cheek and continued to twirl her around the dance floor.

"Remember that day you fell through the ceiling and made me a human shield?" Hermione laughed at her husband's nonchalance of nearly being killed, "I think you deliberately found the most handsome guy in the Great Hall and then decided to seduce him."

"I think you have that backwards, I was seduced by your sweet-talking and your annoyance eventually wore me down into submission" Hermione loved bringing up how persistent Sirius had been to get her attention.

"Maybe I should tell Dora the story of how I wore you down. It would give her a few ideas to use on Moony," he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Leave them alone, Sirius. Remus is finally moving on and don't you dare give Dora any more hope that she might get him. Poor Remus believes that he's too old and dangerous for her. If it's meant to be, it'll happen."

Sirius looked at her a little skeptical, but she silenced his oncoming retort with a kiss, "If you don't believe in fate Mr. Black, you need to re-think our meeting."

"Well Mrs. Black, I just hope Moony keeps an open mind. Age doesn't really mean anything in the Wizarding World since we tend to live longer than muggles."

Upon noticing the huge smile that was now on his wife's face, Sirius stopped talking about Remus, "What did I say?"

"You called me Mrs. Black."

"You called me Mr. Black," he laughed.

"Well you've always been Mr. Black. It's new for me and I love the way it sounds."

"That's good, because you're going to have to live with it for a while."

Once the newlyweds finished their last dance, they set off to one of the Black estates in France for their honeymoon. One of the only decent members of the Black family, Alphard, had offered it to them and Hermione was very excited for a vacation.

With some final kisses to Harry, Neville and the Weasley children and goodbyes from their friends, they set off to begin their lives as Mr. and Mrs. Black.


	29. The Hogwarts Express

Last Author's note: Thank you all so much for you're reviews, alerts and favourites! This was my first _real_ try at fanfiction writing and you've made me want to continue and write more stories. I hopw this doesn't feel like an abrupt ending and that it's satisfying to all you lovely people!

* * *

"Aurora Black you get back here this instant!"

King's Cross station was completely blocked with students, parents and siblings and 8 year old Aurora was letting her jealously get the better of her as she chased her older cousins to the beautiful Hogwarts express.

Harry Potter, along with his three best mates RonWeasley, Neville Longbottm and Draco Malfoy, were proudly walking alongside their parents as Aurora caught up.

"It's not fair! I want to go to Hogwarts too!"

"You're not old enough Rory," Harry tried to wrap his arm around his favourite cousin, "You have to wait three more years. Ginny doesn't get to go either, so you won't be alone and we will write all the time and come home for holidays."

"It's not the same!" Rory Black pouted and crossed her arms as her older cousins laughed at her.

Hermione watched with a smile as her daughter was trying to be cheered up by her big cousins.

* * *

Aurora "Rory" Black was the eldest of the Black children and was, what her father liked to call, their miracle child.

After 2 miscarriages, Hermione had all but given up on trying to have a child. The emotional and physical strain of losing a child was far worse than any torture that she had gone through before.

After various treatment plans and potion adjustments, Poppy had all but assured her that this time there would be no complications. Hermione was quite nervous, but with Sirius at her side throughout everything, they decided to give it one more proper shot.

The birth of Rory was the happiest day that Hermione and Sirius Black could ever remember. The delivery was a tough one, but, according to Hermione, it was completely worth the pain, and Sirius' broken hand and loss of dignity after his little fainting session.

* * *

Harry, Ron, Neville and Draco were inseparable troublemakers and the boys were very protective of their little cousins, especially Ginny and Rory. The two little girls were best friends and Hermione knew that the next two years would be extremely hard on Rory because her honorary brothers would be gone and then the next year, Ginny would be gone as well.

Rory and Ginny would have to learn to function without their boys around and would learn to be the oldest for a while.

Though Ginny was the youngest of the Weasleys, she always had someone younger around her since the Order members were as close as family. She constantly had a playmate in Aurora Black and was especially fond of Neville, so Ginny had just been heard from nearby yelling how unfair it was that her brother and friends had to leave.

"Please say a proper goodbye, Rory" Hermione begged her daughter, who was refusing to let her favourite cousins go.

Hermione had another young girl on her hip who was too busy gazing at the train in amazement to be bothered with the antics of her older sister. Cassie Black was only four, and didn't understand why her cousins were leaving, but since her Daddy said they would be back soon, she saw no reason to argue.

Lily and James had another boy the same time as Cassie was conceived, and Charlie Potter was convinced that his older brother, Harry, was going to fight dragons with Mr. Dumbledore and Mr. Snape at their school.

The Potter's were watching Rory's protest and laughing. They had just watched Molly Weasley go through this with Ron and Ginny and knew that these 'siblings' would be just as hard to manage.

"Come on Rory, I can't leave without a proper hug!" Harry Potter refused to get on the train without goodbyes from everyone. He was a very happy little boy who had never been without a large family and never wanted anyone to be angry at him.

She could never say no to Harry, and Rory launched herself into his arms for a final hug goodbye.

* * *

As they were packing their trunks on the train, Harry saw a familiar face heading towards them and yelled, "Uncle Remus!"

"We didn't think you'd make it, mate," James said, surprised to see Remus up and about this early on the day after a full moon. Even with the wolfsbane the transformations were still hard and Remus tried to stay away from crowds because he knew how aggravated he could get and the drain it would have on him.

"How could I miss this?" Remus laughed as he now had the youngest Black and Potter hanging from each leg as the grown-up eleven year olds all came to give him a hug goodbye.

The crush of Nymphadora Tonks faded during her Hogwarts years, but after reconnecting with Remus after graduation and during Auror training, she refused to let him go.

The excuses that he once relied on were now obsolete. He was no longer too old, as age is not a true factor in the wizarding world and Dora was definitely old enough to make her own decisions. Being too poor for her was not a problem since Hermione had made it her personal goal to ensure rights for magical creatures, especially werewolves and Remus was now a fully fledged Auror along with Sirius and James.

Though he would always believe himself too dangerous, Dora did not care. She knew he was a werewolf since she was fifteen and overheard Remus talking about the full moon, but she was not afraid.

They were now happily dating and everyone expected them to be together for a long time.

* * *

As the boys boarded the train, their parents, aunts, uncles and cousins all waved from the platform.

Hermione became misty-eyed as she watched the boys pile into a compartment and she thought of her own daughter leaving in a few years.

She knew that she would cry when they left and though she loved all of those boys, she would always have a special place for her little godson. The baby that she had sworn to protect with her life had grown into a clever boy that was sure to be a terror at Hogwarts.

"Mummy," Hermione looked down at her little girl, who had re-established her position on her mother's hip, and smiled.

"Did you and Daddy go on the train to Hogwarts too?"

Hermione and Sirius would never tell their children the extent of what had happened in the past. Hermione's past was far too full of horror and she refused to let her children know any of it. When they were older, perhaps the torture would simply become the horrors of the final battle against Voldemort.

She couldn't hide the scars forever.

"Remember what I told you, Cass?" Sirius lifted her into his own arms, "Mum fell from the sky into Hogwarts because she's an angel, but I went to Hogwarts on the train every year and met all your uncles there."

The younger Black laughed, but had a little flicker of hope in her eyes. After all, she was a witch and her Dad turned into a dog, why couldn't her mum be angel?

Rory simply rolled her eyes and went to talk to her favourite uncle, Remus, about a book that he had given her.

They were all headed to the Burrow, once again, for a delicious meal, so the kids could play together and calm their jealousy about not going to Hogwarts.

As Hermione watch the train roll away, she had a sudden flash of the beautiful rolling countryside and a compartment full of candy.

She used to dream about going to Hogwarts the proper way and wished that her life had been different and that Voldemort had never caused all the problems in her youth.

But then she sees her eldest daughter being swung between Remus and Dora, her husband carrying their youngest while talking to his old enemies, the Malfoys, the Potters and Weasleys walking with the Longbottoms, who were expecting a baby brother or sister for Neville very soon and she couldn't help but ignore those wishes.

Why would she every want a normal life when she had all this?

Her past was a mess.

A complete jumble of danger, running, hiding, death and pain.

But it was worth it. Everything that she had gone through was made easier when she met Sirius at the aisle and then when she saw each of her baby girls for the first time.

The scars would remain, but the pain was fading away with every laugh and smile from her larger than life family.


End file.
